A Beautiful Lie
by CherrySugarCube
Summary: A friendship starts to develope between Light and L during the Kira investigation. Will the unusual and somehow very beautiful bond between the two of them last through the difficulties that the battle against Kira causes to them? MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

"Light, we both are murderers – you and I", Soichiro Yagami said harshly. "See you in Hell."

His words sounded very terminal and his appearance didn't show any mercy or compassion to Light, his own 18-year-old son, who sat on the back seat of the car staring at his father eyes opened wide of horror. Soichiro Yagami had stopped the car and turned on the front seat towards his son and pointed the barrel of a gun at his forehead. Light had tried to talk sense to his father and desperately asked him to spare his life by offering clever theories – that made sense – to support his innocence. But Soichiro Yagami seemed to be serious about this and not intended to change his mind. He had not listened to his son. He had only said that he was going to shoot Light and after that himself.

Soichiro Yagami pulled the trigger. Misa screamed aloud next to Light on the back seat.

Light couldn't let out any sound. For a moment everything froze. He was totally petrified. They say that you can see your whole life floating before your eyes at the moment of your death but Light didn't see anything like that. His mind was completely empty of thoughts. He was too scared to think of anything reasonable. He only stared forward and gasped. His own father had _shot_ him!

But Light did not bleed. He didn't feel any pain.

It was silent as the grave. Light's ears were temporarily almost deaf because of the loud bang that the gun had made. But he wasn't dead. He stared at his father and his eyes were wide and frightened. His mouth was opened to let out a mute scream of horror. Soichiro Yagami still pointed at Light's forehead with the gun. Light noticed that the barrel of the gun gave off smoke. His father had shot him for real but apparently he hadn't used a real cartridge.

"A blank….?" Light breathed. He also noticed that his own voice sounded a lot higher and thinner than usual.

Soichiro Yagami turned forward on his seat. "Thank God…" he sighed sounding very relieved.

"What do you mean, dad?" Light asked timidly. He leered around. The car was parked in the middle of no-where and Light couldn't see any traffic or people anywhere. His father had said that he would take Light and Misa to their execution since L had discovered them being guilty. He had said that they where Kira and the second Kira. But on their way to their execution Soichiro Yagami had stopped the car and said that he wanted to spare Light from the execution by shooting his own son himself. Light was exceptionally intelligent young man but he didn't immediately understand what was this all about. Wouldn't he and Misa be killed?

"Forgive me, you two…" Soichiro Yagami said sounding haggard. He leaned his face against the wheel. "This was the only way to end your confinement… Please try to understand that I did it only because I really believe that you are innocent."

And yet Light didn't understand what this was all about. He and Misa exchanged one abashed and relieved glance with each other.

"Did you see that, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro Yagami asked someone that wasn't Misa or Light. "I did exactly as you told me to do and I'm still alive." Soichiro Yagami's voice sounded relieved.

Light tried to see Ryuzaki but he soon understood that Ryuzaki wasn't here but was monitoring the events via some camera that was installed in the car. Light wasn't surprised at all when he now heard Ryuzaki replying to his father.

"Exactly", Ryuzaki said with his monotonic tone. "Brilliant acting, Yagami-san. If Amane Misa was the second Kira who can kill by knowing only the person's face, I assume that she would have killed you before you shot Light-kun. And the same goes with Light-kun if he was Kira. The Kira I know would even kill his own father if needed. Of course… it's possible that Light-kun realized it was an act before you could shoot… But I'll end their confinement, as promised."

Now Light started to understand. They had been released from the confinement and brought here so that L would have the certainty of Misa and Light's innocence. Apparently the agreement between Light's father and L had been that Misa and Light would be released from the confinement if any of them didn't kill Soichiro Yagami as he threatens Light's life. So L had believed that Light would have killed his own father to escape. And Soichiro Yagami, his father, had agreed to follow L's plan since he had already been convinced of Light's innocence. He had been sure of that he wouldn't die. Light was grateful of his father's belief in his innocence. But Light was mad at L for that he had put him to go through all of this. Light had really been scared – almost scared to death – and Soichiro Yagami had probably not been pleased to scare his son like this either.

"Amane Misa will be kept under surveillance after this until everything is clear", Ryuzaki, L, continued speaking. "We have several pieces of evidence to connect her to the second Kira, although she is convincing her innocence."

Misa tossed her long, blond hair biliously and snapped: "What? You are still suspecting me?"

Soichiro Yagami told Misa that she could live her normal life but only be surveyed until the things would be settled. He said that Misa could think the surveillance as protecting. Misa's mood changed immediately into a better. Her moods had always been pretty varying. From time to time she became happy about very little things but then she also had a terrible temper. It was easy to make her angry if you knew how to do it.

"And as I promised…" Ryuzaki kept speaking, ignoring Misa completely. "…I'll arrange so that I can be together with Light-kun 24 hours a day to solve the Kira-case."

Light's face brightened. He wasn't mad at L anymore. In fact L had proved to everyone – though the way he did it wasn't the best possible – that Light was not Kira. And now Light could do something himself to catch the real Kira. He wouldn't need to harp that he wasn't Kira anymore. He wouldn't need to act as carefully as possible so that L wouldn't see him as Kira. Now he was a part of the team – for real.

"You got it, Ryuzaki", he said excitedly. "Let's catch Kira – together."

"Yes, I'm pleased to work with you, Light-kun", L replied and Light could not tell if he really meant his words or not since the tone of his voice was as neutral and monotonic as almost every time he said something – no matter what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Light and Misa were allowed to go wash, clean themselves up and change their clothes before all of the members of the investigation team gathered together. Light and Misa seemed to be feeling much better after cleaning themselves up. And yet still they were both a little pale and gaunt looking – no wonder since they had been in confinement for over fifty days.

Light found himself in a hotel room with L, Misa, his father, Matsuda and Aizawa. The three that were mentioned last were sitting on a couch. L was standing next to Light and they had been chained together with handcuffs. They could move away from each other only as much as the chain of the handcuffs allowed them to – in other words only a few meters. Misa stood in between L and Light, holding her hands on her hips. She glanced alternately at L and alternately at Light.

"So you meant _this_ when you talked about being together 24 hours a day…" she said to L, glancing at the handcuffs that chained him together with Light.

"Ryuzaki… Is this really necessary…?" Light asked, lifting his left arm up to the level of his face. He gave the iron loop around his wrist a skeptical look.

"I'm not doing this because I want to", L said. But Light, quietly inside his own mind, was thinking that you could never know when it came to L. Light had known him for a while but during that time had happened a lot. In Light's opinion L wasn't very predictable person – he was a complete opposite to that. You could expect anything from L – but be surprised almost every time.

Misa, instead of L, was usually very predictable. Now both L and Light were prepared to that she would put up a fight about the handcuffs.

"Isn't this just a bit too much…?" she asked L, lifting her eyebrow in a very meaningful way.

"I'm ready to do pretty much everything to catch Kira", L replied calmly. "I believe that Light-kun agrees with me."

Misa turned towards Light, hoping that he would say that this handcuff-thing was a bit too much. But Misa had to endure a disappointment.

"I'm too going to do whatever it takes to catch Kira", Light said determinedly.

Misa snorted and tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking intent. She turned towards L again. "But that's just _gross_… You know… two guys chained together… yuck…" She winced.

"You're with him _all the time_. Light belongs to _me_! You were with him in the school too and now you're _chaining_ him together with you! That's really going creepy, Ryuzaki… Is this what you're into?"

"Like I said – I'm _not _doing this because I want to", L replied, staying perfectly calm and monotonic.

"How do you think that Light and I are supposed to go on dates if you're chained together with him _all the time_?" Misa demanded, still holding her hands on her hips looking combative.

"The dates shall be with the three of us", L replied simply.

Misa didn't seem to be happy having that kind of answer. She extended her arms and opened her mouth to utter her protest. Light noticed from the corner of his eye his father, Aizawa and Matsuda moving anxiously on the couch.

"_Disgusting_…" Misa griped. "And you're expecting us to _kiss _in front of you, Ryuzaki?"

"Of course not", L replied composedly. "I don't expect you two to do anything. But if you do, I'll be watching."

Misa made a wince of disgust and indignation. "You're such a pervert, Ryuzaki!" she snapped. She was horrified of all those things that Ryuzaki was capable of doing, using solving the case as an excuse.

L sighed, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Light-kun… Would you please shut Misa-san up?" he asked, acting like Misa wouldn't even be there next to him.

Misa glared at L but Light got her full attention to himself by opening his mouth. "Please, Misa… Try to understand this", he said. "You're clearly the one who sent those videotapes to Sakura TV as the second Kira. You should be grateful to have even this much freedom."

"But Light!" Misa shrieked, pouting her lips like she had been insulted. "I'm not Kira! Don't you trust your own girlfriend?"

Light blinked his eyes abashedly. "Girlfriend…?" he repeated. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

Misa gripped the sleeve of Light's elegant striped blouse with her hands. "I _am _your girlfriend", she said.

Light shook his head. "I know nothing but that you're saying you've fallen in love with me and you won't leave me alone…" he muttered sounding abashed.

Misa's mouth opened wide. She wrenched Light's sleeve indignantly. "That's not fair!" she shrieked. "It was love at first sight! And you took advantage of it and kissed me!"

Fortunately L saved Light's butt – or sleeve more likely – by taking a step closer to Misa. He bit the nail of his forefinger looking pensive. "Misa-san…" he said. "About this falling in love with Light-kun… Did it happen in Aoyama on May 22nd?"

Misa nodded without hesitation. L looked upwards and seemed to be thinking.

"Why did you go to Aoyama that day? What were you wearing?" he asked.

"I went there 'cause I felt like it", Misa replied impatiently. "How many times do I have to tell you that? And how on earth I could remember what I was wearing back then?"

L ignored her words almost completely. He leaned his face closer to Misa's. "So you went to Aoyama and when you went back home you were in love with Light-kun and knew his name, correct?"

"Yes."

L leaned his face even closer to Misa's. Misa seemed to be feeling uncomfortable but she didn't back off.

"But you don't know how you learned his name, do you?" the black-haired man asked.

"No, I don't", Misa replied.

Now L's face was only few centimeters away from Misa's face. Misa stared in his wide, black eyes strictly.

"Then… how would you feel if Light-kun was Kira?" L asked.

Light frowned immediately after hearing that and L saw it but ignored him completely.  
"That would be just awesome!" Misa said, gripping Light's arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the burglar who killed my parents. Light is lovely but if he was Kira, I'd love him even more if possible!"

Light seemed to be feeling himself uncomfortable but Misa didn't notice that.

L took the forefinger out of his mouth and said: "We are talking about Kira here. And you say you would love Light-kun even more if he was Kira… Aren't you afraid at all?"

"I'd have no reason to be afraid if Light was Kira", Misa said cheerfully. "Misa is pro-Kira. I'd only try to help him all I could."

L cocked his head. "You would probably only get in his way…" he muttered. "But there is no mistake that you are the second Kira…" L was still leaning his face closer to Misa's. Misa hid herself behind Light's back.

"It's almost so obvious that it makes me question it…." L muttered and seemed to be talking to himself more than to anyone else in the room.

"Good because Misa is not Kira!" Misa said, still hiding behind Light's back.

L started to bit his nails again. "Still… You'll be put under surveillance…" he said, turning his back to Misa and Light.

He started to tell about their residential arrangements. He also told that Matsuda would become Misa's new manager with a name Matsui. Misa wasn't happy about that. She put up a fight again. Finally Aizawa lost his nerves and forced Misa to go to her room. After that L showed them the new building they would be staying in with his laptop. He said that the new headquarters would be completed in five days. Everyone became more motivated after hearing L introducing the new headquarters.

"Ryuzaki, Chief, Light, let's catch Kira together – no matter what!" Aizawa shouted intently.

"Hey, you didn't include me…" Matsuda muttered lousily.


	3. Chapter 3

Misa sighed sounding irritated. "This got to be the lamest date I've ever been on", she said.

She sat on a couch, glaring judgmentally at L who sat opposite her with Light on another couch. In between them was a table with three plates, three teacups and three slices of cake on it.

"No, no. Just ignore me", L said, cramming the last piece of his slice of cake into his mouth. "Please pretend that I'm not even here."

Misa sighed again. She hadn't touched her own slice of cake. Neither had Light who was sitting next to L and had crossed his legs and arms, looking like he had been sulking.

"Misa-san, will you be eating that cake?" L asked, pointing at Misa's cake with his finger.

"Cake and other sweet things make you fat so I won't eat any", Misa replied knowledgeably.

"No, actually they don't", L said, "if you burn all the calories by thinking. Then you won't get fat even if you eat sweets."

Misa snorted angrily. "Are you implying that I'm stupid or something?" she asked, looking combative once again.

"No, not at all", L replied calmly.

"Why can't you just leave us alone?" Misa asked him. "You can have my cake if you let us be and leave."

"No, that won't do", L replied. "And even if I left, I would be watching you two via the surveillance cameras so it wouldn't make any difference…"

"You really are a pervert, aren't you?" Misa shouted snappily. "Isn't he, Light?" she asked turning towards Light who had been silent until now.

"Whatever…" Light murmured.

"This doesn't feel like date at all…" Misa whined, crossing her arms and looking very bilious. She glared at L who stood up on the couch and leaned over the table reaching for Misa's cake.

"What's the matter, Ryuzaki? We've got this great new headquarters and yet y_ou_ of us all seem to be the only one who's not excited", Light said to L who now sat back on his seat. "So what's wrong?"

L glanced at Light from the corner of his wide, black eye. "Nothing really… Except I'm kind of depressed…"

"Depressed?" Light repeated. "Why?"

"All this time I thought you were Kira…" L said, sighing and cramming Misa's cake into his mouth with a fork. "And it's proven now that you're not… I'm a little shocked that I was wrong…"

Light looked at L. No wonder L was depressed if the world's greatest detective had never been wrong before. But Light knew he wasn't Kira. So he was only glad that L had been wrong all this time.

"But I'm still suspecting you…" L continued, lifting his right wrist up to the level of his eyes so that the chain of the handcuffs made a jingle. "That's why we're chained together."

Light frowned. He clearly wasn't happy to hear that L still suspected him. But he didn't have a chance to reply and say something to defense himself because L kept on talking.

"But Kira can control people's actions before they die…" the black-haired man said, cramming even more cake into his mouth. And he didn't even swallow it before continuing. "So Kira could've controlled Light-kun to make me think that he was Kira… Same goes with Amane Misa. Everything fits in my mind… Except that why the two of you didn't die."

Light and Misa gave L a glare that told him that they didn't like the things he said.

"But if you really were controlled by Kira…" L continued speaking, "…then you are nothing more than victims…" He swallowed and sighed, looking very gloomy. His pale skin and the black bags under his eyes just strengthened the impression. "This means that we have to start the whole investigation over from the beginning… I can understand that Kira chose Light-kun because he has the access to police information and that made it easy to make him look like Kira in my eyes… How very frustrating… A pretty big shock to me…"

"I understand how you must be feeling", Light said to L. "But are you saying that I and Misa actually _were_ Kiras…?"

"Yes", L replied. "I don't think that there is any mistake there. You are both Kiras."

Light and Misa looked angry again. But L kept on talking.

"It all made sense until the killings started again after Light-kun had been put into the confinement", he said. "So… that leaves me the option that Kira's power can be passed from person to person. Even the second Kira's videotape mentioned that the power can be shared…"

"Hmm… An interesting theory", Light said. "But if that's how it really is, catching Kira will be difficult."

L nodded. He didn't look at Light or at anything special. He just stared forwards. "That's why I'm so depressed…" he said. "Kira's power can be transferred to another person when the first person has been caught. And the first person also loses all the memories of doing the killings… If this is the thing, then catching Kira will be almost impossible."

Light looked at L who looked absentminded. Then he turned his gaze towards his own slice of cake. He yet hadn't touched it at all. He took the plate and handed it to L. "Here", he said smiling encouragingly. "Cheer up, Ryuzaki. There's still so much stuff we don't understand about Kira. Come on, show me some energy."

L turned towards Light sitting in his characteristic position holding his knees against his chest. He took the cake that Light offered to him. But still he said: "I'm really not in the mood… Why even bother to try anymore…? We're just putting ourselves in danger… trying so hard to catch Kira…"

Light sighed and stood up. "Ryuzaki…"

L looked up at Light. Light stared back at him. Then he punched L to the face with the full force. L dropped the plate that Light's slice of cake was on. He fell off the couch down to the floor. The chain of the handcuffs plucked Light to the floor too. Misa screamed since the table, the teacups and the plates had all crushed to the floor.

"What was that for...?" L asked Light. He was crawling on all fours on the floor. The cake had fallen on his white shirt.

Light stood up. "Pull yourself together, Ryuzaki!" he shouted. "You're willing to quit the whole investigation just because I'm not Kira? Just because once in a lifetime you happened to be wrong with your conclusions! That's why you want to give up?"

Light walked to L and gripped his dirty shirt and pulled his face closer to his own and continued yelling.

"If we don't go after Kira, nobody will!" he yelled. "You're the one who swore to catch him! You're the one who put Misa and me in confinement! And after all this you're the one willing to give up?"

L looked at Light's face with his back eyes. "I understand…" he said. "But whatever the reason… An eye for an eye, my friend."

All of the sudden L plucked himself free from Light's grip and leaned his own body weight on his hands. His foot kicked Light to the face. Light fell backwards and the chain plucked L with him. Misa screamed again. Light and L ignored her and continued fighting.

"My conclusion wasn't wrong", L said suddenly, crawling on all fours again. "Yagami Light is Kira. And Amane Misa is the second Kira. But that's just not enough to solve the case. I was on the right trail… But still something's missing… So I'm a little disappointed. I'm a human too – isn't that allowed?"

"No, it's not", Light replied, standing up once again. "You're saying that I'm Kira. Actually… it sounds like you won't be satisfied unless I'm Kira. Do you _want _me to be Kira?"

L was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be thinking. He was staring at Light all that time. "Yes… Actually, now that I think that… I really wanted you to be Kira."

Light walked to L and gripped his shirt again. He punched L's face as if it would help him to make L say something reasonable – something that made sense to Light. But L wasn't intending to give up with his thoughts. He kicked Light's face once again as a payback. Misa had leant her back against the wall so that she wouldn't be in the way. She didn't want to be involved in this fight.

Suddenly the phone rang on the floor. L crawled to it and picked up.

"Yes?"

"Ryuzaki, Misa-Misa was number one in Eighteen Magazine Reader Poll! And she'll also be starring in director Nishinaka's next movie!"

"Mm… I see", Ryuzaki muttered and hung up the phone.

"What was it?" Light asked standing next to L who had crouched down on the floor.

"Nothing", L replied simply. "Just Matsuda acting stupid again."

Light didn't seem to be surprised at all. "As usual… That's so like him…"


	4. Chapter 4

If nothing more, at least Matsuda had made L and Light stop fighting. But the date had been an awful disaster. Watari cleaned up the room after L, Light and Misa had left. Misa was unwilling to let Light go to his own room with L. But Light managed to persuade her.

"You could teach me to do that", L said to Light after they had gotten rid of Misa who had gone to her own room.

"No, I couldn't", Light replied. "That's just something you either can do or just simply can't do."

"What do you mean, Light-kun?" L asked seeming to be interested.

"I mean – it's just my natural charm that does it", Light replied, looking confident and proud.

L stared at him and Light couldn't know what he was thinking because L's wide, black eyes didn't show any expression. L saw a handsome, young man before him. He was wearing fashionable, elegant clothes and his brunette hair seemed to be well care for – as was his skin and teeth also. The only flaw that L saw was a bad looking bruising on Light's right cheek. L had caused that to him just a moment ago.

"Light-kun is probably right…" he muttered. "I'm not pretty good with ladies…"

Light tossed his short hair and shrugged. "Then you're lucky to have me", he said.

Light smiled a little and he was mostly kidding. L didn't smile. He didn't seem to understand the joke. He seemed to be taking Light's words a bit too seriously. But yeah, Light was only _mostly _kidding.

* * *

The two of them were in their own room in the new headquarters. They had to share a room with each other – even though the building contained plenty of rooms – since they were handcuffed together.

Someone knocked on their door. L let the person in. It was Watari. He had brought some sweets to L and also some bed sheets, towels and a couple of ice cube bags. Watari made the large bed that was in the middle of the room. Apparently Light and L also had to share a bed together. Fortunately it was meant for two persons to sleep.

"Is there still something I could do for you?" Watari asked as he had finished making the bed.

"No, thank you very much", L replied.

Then Watari left. L turned towards Light.

"Does it hurt badly, Light-kun?" he asked, looking at Light's face.

Light touched his right cheek with his hand and winced. Yes, it did hurt. He hadn't realized that L's kick had caused so much damage.

"Does it look bad?" Light asked, seeming to be more worried about that.

L plucked Light to the bathroom that their room also contained. He showed Light a large mirror that was hanging on the wall.

"Ouch…" Light hissed, looking at his reflection. "Looks pretty bad…"

"Yes, looks like there will be a bruise", L said, standing next to him. He compared his own reflection to Light's. There was also some little bruising on L's face too. But Light's perfect skin seemed to be more damaged. Otherwise the two of them weren't alike at all. They were both tall and slim young men. But Light was handsome and confident looking. L was unattractive and his back was curved.

"Oh no… Not good…" Light muttered, touching the bruising on his face again. "It's probably too late to do anything to prevent the bruise…"

L nodded. "But Watari brought something to ease the pain", he said, plucking Light with him again.

L took one of the ice cube bags and one of the towels with him. Then he led Light to the bed.

"Please sit down, Light-kun", he advised.

Light did as he was told to. L hopped on the bed and sat down in that strange sitting position of his. He wrapped the towel around the ice cube bag. He touched Light's bruised cheek with it gingerly. Light cringed.

"Does it hurt?" L asked immediately.

"No, it's just… so cold", Light lied. Actually it hurt and was _also_ cold.

"Relax, you'll get used to it soon", L said, pressing the towel gently against Light's cheek.

Light tried not to cringe again. He soon noticed that L had been right. L continued pressing Light's cheek with the towel and soon it didn't feel painful or too cold. It really relieved the pain. Light sat still. Somehow he couldn't move as L pressed the ice cube bag against his cheek. But it was so silent that Light felt a little uncomfortable.

"About Amane Misa…" L said, interrupting the awkward silence.

"What about her?" Light asked, looking at L who was still taking care of his bruising.

"Are you serious about her?" L asked, staring back into Light's brown eyes.

Light didn't know why L was asking about this. But he decided to reply truthfully. "No, I'm not. It's all one-sided."

L was still staring at him. "Then could you possible act like you're serious about her?" he asked. "She is definitely connected to the second Kira and she is also in love with you…"

"I see", Light said, standing up. "You want me to make her reveal things about the second Kira, don't you?"

L was still sitting on the bed, holding the ice cube bag with his hand. "Yes. Could you do that?"

Light sighed, looking at the floor. "Ryuzaki…"he said, raising his gaze back at L. "I couldn't possibly do that. I couldn't play with her – or with any woman's – emotions like that. It's goes against my code."

L was still staring at Light. He seemed to be a bit disappointed. "Well… that's unfortunate. And I thought you were ready to do _anything_ to catch Kira", he said.

"I am", Light replied. "But… that's just something I can't _possibly_ do. I'm sorry. But I'm not like you when it comes to things like this."

L gave him a look that Light couldn't construe. _Not like me…?_ _No, more likely: you aren't like yourself, Yagami Light_. L was a bit confused. It was like Light's whole personality had changed during the confinement. Had he really been controlled by Kira? Perhaps _this _was the real Yagami Light then…

"Are you alright?" Light asked L.

"Yes", L replied with his monotonic tone.

"You're hurt too…" Light said caringly then, taking the ice cube bag from L's hand. He pressed it against L's face, trying to be as gentle as possible.

L sat still. He seemed to not know how to act or what to think. He wasn't social person and he had difficulties to cooperate with people because he had his own ways to investigate and people very often questioned them. But Yagami Light wasn't like the other people. He was different from the others. Of course Light and L also had disagreements from time to time. And even though L suspected Light, he also admired his intelligence and remarkable reasoning ability. He had said to him that Light was his very first friend ever. And he was. No-one else except Watari had ever been this close to L mentally or physically. Light was his friend but also his suspect. And neither had L kept his suspect so close to him ever. If someone, then Yagami Light would have been a good partner to him. But L was alone. He had always been alone. He didn't have a partner. He hadn't even had any friends – until now.

"Thank you, Light-kun", he said as monotonously as usual.

"Ah, this is just nothing, Ryuzaki…"Light replied, sounding abashed. He was still pressing the ice cube bag against L's face.

"No, I meant… for everything", L said quietly.

Light froze for a second. Then he sat down next to L. He put the ice cube bag away.

"For everything…?" he replied, looking at L.

L looked away from Light. He recalled the moment when Light had tried to cheer him up on the date. Light had given his own slice of cake to him… But L hadn't had a chance to eat it because right after that Light had punched him. L looked at the white shirt that he was wearing. There were stains on it. The stains smelled like cream and strawberries – L knew those smells better than anyone.

"Yes, for everything, Light-kun", he said to the brunette. "And thank you for trying to cheer me up earlier…"

Light smiled a little. He gave L a friendly look. Then he lowered his gaze at L's shirt. "Your shirt is dirty", he said with a critical tone. "You should change it."

L shrugged. "If you say so, Light-kun."

"Do you have any change of clothes here…?" Light asked, standing up.

"No, not here…" L replied. "I can wait for tomorrow. Then Watari can arrange some for me…"

"I've got some", Light said. "You can borrow one of my shirts."

Light's father had brought him change of clothes from home. Light was not allowed to leave the headquarters without L. But his father could visit home as much as he wanted – though L hoped that he would live in the headquarters as much as possible.

"Thank you, Light-kun", L said, standing up too. "But I don't think that'll be necessary. I can wait for tomorrow."

"No, it'll be no problem at all", Light said carelessly. "It's disgusting to wear dirty clothes, don't you think? You can have one of my shirts. We're pretty much the same size…"

L didn't want to argue about this kind of thing so he gave up. Light gave him one of his clean blouses. He looked at L as he was wearing one of his shirts a moment later. Light got to admit that L looked pretty goofy with the borrowed shirt. He was about to laugh at him.

"What is it, Light-kun?" L asked, looking at Light. "Is there something wrong with the shirt you gave me?"

Light almost giggled. "No, the shirt is just fine", he replied, smiling at L.

* * *

**So far this story has pretty much followed the plot of the original series but with my own little details and additions. This chapter, however, is something that I came up with and wanted to write. I want to focus on the relationship between Light and L but also write about the events of the original series. So I wish that this story won't be boring since I've rewritten the events of the series. I'll probably do that in the following chapters too so that everyone knows what happens with the Kira investigation during the frienship between Light and L develops. **

**Hope you like this story. (:**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	5. Chapter 5

It was 11:42 p.m. and Light had already fallen asleep. L was sitting on the bed in their room. Light was sleeping peacefully next to him. L saw the time when he looked at the watch that Light was wearing around his wrist. L was licking a lollipop absentmindedly. He was still wearing the shirt that Light had borrowed to him and he didn't feel very comfortable in it. He missed his own shirt that felt so good on. It was simple – and too big for him – but he liked it. He was always wearing that kind of shirt.

L touched the textile of the shirt that he was wearing at the moment. It felt pretty soft and cold against his skin. And it smelt like Light's perfume. L didn't use perfumes himself but he didn't hate Light's perfume. The smell was mild and actually kind of good.

L turned his gaze towards sleeping Light. The brunette slept quietly. His face was calm and he didn't move almost at all. Light talked a lot in L's opinion. But L liked to listen to him talking. He never talked about any unnecessary things – unlike Amane Misa or Matsuda. And if he sometimes didn't talk about the Kira case or something else very important and essential, L still wanted to listen to him. Because from time to time L learned something new from him or happened to think about something that he wouldn't have thought otherwise. That was also one reason for that why he was precious person to L. L felt like he needed a friend like Light, even though Light was sometimes very irritating and vainglorious. But he often had a point. And he was one of the few people who usually understood L's thoughts and actions.

L enjoyed watching Light sleeping. Light was so defenseless when he was asleep. He couldn't put up an act. And since Light talked a lot when he was awake, he was quiet now – though sometimes he talked while he was asleep, too. But those things didn't seem to be vital. He muttered something about school, homework and exams, but never anything about being Kira or doing the killings.

_So he never dreams about them. _It seemed that Light didn't have any single memory left of being Kira – if he really had been Kira or controlled by him.  
L watched Light's calm face.

_You're Kira, Yagami Light. Or at least you really were controlled by Kira. But what has happened to you? You really don't remember any of it… And you keep denying so hard that you are connected to the murders… I almost believe you. Actually part of me already does…_

Now that L looked at the sleeping, innocent looking – _harmless _looking – young man, he really wanted him to be as innocent as he kept saying he was. Could that young man – no, just a boy more likely – be Kira, the man who had murdered numerous people? Actually Yagami Light had the traits that they both believed Kira also had. Kira was childish and hated loosing. He was proud and wanted to let it be known that he existed. Yagami Light had said that Kira was a child because in his opinion an adult would have used the deadly power for his own selfish purposes. L agreed with that. Kira seemed to be thinking that he was helping people. He seemed to have taken a permission to punish criminals on his own. And he had challenged L directly – no, more likely accepted L's challenge to him by killing Lind L. Tailor. And if Kira was childish and hated losing, then he partly was just like L. L, too, hated losing. So he would do anything to win. And if Yagami Light was Kira, this wouldn't be only a fight for the mankind. Then this would be a personal matter, L's own personal fight against the evil that lay within Light.

L's thoughts were interrupted by Light who murmured something unclear. L focused on listening to him.

"Mmh… No more cake, Ryuzaki… I'm sick of it…" Light whined against his pillow without opening his eyes. "Let's play tennis instead, shall we…?"

L tilted his head, looking at Light's face. He stroked Light's silky hair haltingly. "Yes, Light-kun", he whispered. "Perhaps we shall play tennis once Kira has been caught. I'm looking forward to it."

A happy smile appeared on Light's sleeping face. L didn't know if Light had heard his words but maybe he had felt his touch through his dream. L continued licking his lollipop and stroking Light's hair gingerly at the same time. He couldn't help himself smiling back at sleeping Light. Nobody saw that smile but it was a gentle, caring smile – one of the very few that had ever appeared on L's face.


	6. Chapter 6

Light opened his eyes. It was an early morning. He saw L sitting next to him on the bed that the two of them shared together.

L was licking a lollipop. He turned his gaze towards Light as he heard him removing his cover and raising up to the sitting position.

"Good morning, Light-kun", L said to him with his monotonic tone.

Light was a bit drowsy. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Morning, Ryuzaki…"

L stared at him with one of those looks that Light couldn't construe.

"What is it?" he asked.

L put the lollipop into his mouth and mumbled: "Nothing. Would you like to have some breakfast?"

"Yes, please", Light replied, standing up. "But at first I'd like to take a shower and change my clothes."

L nodded. They went to the bathroom together.

* * *

Very soon L understood that taking a shower and changing clothes was something that Light wanted to do every single morning. And if he couldn't do those things, he became bilious. L understood that very well. Some people needed to do their daily routines – otherwise their day was completely ruined. L needed to eat sweets almost all the time – otherwise he got pissed. His opinion was that sugar kept his brain in a good condition. Light didn't seem to need sugar that much but instead of that he needed a good night's sleep every day, enough food and he was obsessed with his personal hygiene.

In Light's opinion L was quite odd. He deeply admired L's detective skills and intelligence but he also thought that L had pretty many shortcomings. His social skills were pretty much on the level zero and he didn't put much effort into his appearance. He seemed to have a high moral and a good sense of justice but sometimes he used quite questionable methods with his investigations. His sense of humor was also pretty close to zero but somehow Light still felt that he understood him. Regardless of L's many shortcomings, Light enjoyed being with him. For the longest time he felt like he had a real soul mate.

They seemed to be from completely different planets but Light still thought that they made a pretty good team. Light had felt so bored before meeting L and none of his previous friends reached the level that Light had set. None of them had ever reached _his _level. No-one had been worth him. Only L seemed to reach the same level as Yagami Light. Actually Light had put himself above all others in his mind. But he didn't consider himself to be arrogant because of that. The others just didn't have enough to offer to him. But L had. L always managed to surprise him with his skillful ways of thinking.

Pretty often there were such things that Light didn't happen to think of and so L supplemented his conclusions. And not only with his skills, but also with his shortcomings, L managed to surprise him often. Sometimes it felt like Light had been with a small child that was just a bit precocious. But that was the impression that the world's best detective had given to Light. With L even having a conversation was definitely something different and unique. L was highly intelligent and he had clearly gotten a special education but yet still he didn't know much about the ordinary life and how to get along with people. Sometimes his childish innocence and ignorance about such things made Light feel some sort of superiority, even though their intelligences were pretty much on the same level. L was full of mysteries that Light wanted to uncover.

"Is Light-kun ready?" L asked as Light was looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror after taking a shower and changing his clothes.

Light gave his reflection a critical look. He had quite a big bruise on his cheek. He was thinking that perhaps he could use some sort of make-up to cover it. But L couldn't probably help him with that. Perhaps he would have to ask Misa about it…

"Don't worry, Light-kun", L said, looking at the bruise on Light's face. "It'll heal in a couple of days."

Light pouted his nose. "Yeah, it probably will. But next time you'll kick me… try not to hit my face."

L shrugged with an innocent looking face.

"By the way, Ryuzaki…" Light said, glancing at L's shirt that was actually Light's own. "Are you going to wear that today?"

"I'd like to have my own shirt back…" L replied. "But thank you for borrowing this one to me."

Light swept his hand dismissively. The shirt didn't suit to L anyway, so…

"By the way… It's an interesting smelling perfume that you use", L said suddenly leaning towards Light and sniffing his neck like a dog. "What is it that you use?" L asked.

"Ah – um…" Light mumbled, trying to stand back from the sudden action of L's. But there was no room for him to back off. He gripped L's shoulders and tried to push him back. "Is the smell really that strong…?" he asked.

"No, actually it's quite a mild smell", L replied, ignoring the fact that Light seemed to feel himself uncomfortable as L was being so close to him.

Light nodded a bit nervously. He wondered how sharp sense of smell L actually had. "Why are you asking about that, Ryuzaki?" he asked, sounding reserved.

"I just happened to thought about it…" L replied, now standing back from Light who relaxed almost immediately after that. "You see, this shirt of yours… it smells just like you, Light-kun."

"Uh, I see…" Light muttered, feeling abashed. He suddenly wanted to ask L's opinion about that if he smelled good or not. But he didn't venture to do that. And as if L had a good sense of perfumes… _He'd probably think that I'd smell good if I used a strawberry perfume or something like that…_ And that would have been way too girly! As if Light even _wanted_ to smell good to L… They were handcuffed together, regardless of that did he, or did he not, use a good smelling perfume.

"So, if you're ready then… How about the breakfast?" L asked, dragging Light out of the bathroom.

"Could we eat breakfast with Misa today?" Light asked as he followed L.

L bit his fingernails. "Another date… you mean…?" he asked as they walked along the corridor.

"Well… whatever… At least Misa would be happy", Light replied. "Since yesterday's date failed…"

L was quiet for a moment. Then he stopped so suddenly that Light rammed against his curved back. He hit his forehead against the back of L's head.

"Ouch…" he hissed. "You could've warned me before stopping…"

L turned towards Light, completely ignoring his whining. "You mean… You're willing to carry out my suggestion, is that it?" he asked.

Light blinked his brown eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Amane Misa", L replied. "I asked you to pretend like you were serious about her. Are you willing to do that now?"

Light crossed his arms as a sign of reject. "No, I'm not", he said.

"Why do you want to have breakfast with her then?" L asked, still staring at Light's face strictly.

Light sighed. "Perhaps I just want to make up that I ruined the date yesterday…" he said.

"Are you sure you're not serious about her?" L asked curiously.

"Yes, absolutely sure", Light replied. "But like I've said – I don't want to hurt women's feelings. So I'd like to make it up to her."

"I see…" L muttered monotonously. "Then I'll just change my shirt and after that we can go to Amane. She'll definitely be happy to see you again, Light-kun."

* * *

**This chapter focuses pretty much on Light and L's thoughts about each other - or more likely on Light's thoughts about L since the last chapter (Chapter 5) focused on L's thoughts as Light was sleeping.**

**Hope it wasn't too boring... [:**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	7. Chapter 7

"Light!" Misa yelled in a joyful manner and ran towards Light as the brunette and L entered Misa's room. The blond girl in a black gothic lolita outfit wrapped her arms around Light and hugged him tightly.

Light bit his lip and didn't seem to be very happy about this. After all it was an early morning and Light was a bit exhausted and also confused because of L's actions in the bathroom a moment ago.

"Did you sleep well, Misa?" Light asked in a friendly way.

L was impressed. Light was capable of acting so friendly even though he seemed to have difficulties to deal with Misa. Of course Light was good at hiding his true feelings and Misa was completely fooled by him but L noticed how the things truly were.

"I would've slept better if you had been here with me, Light…" Misa purred, leaning her cheek against Light's shoulder. She giggled.

Light managed to ignore her words.

"How about you, Light?" Misa asked. "Did you miss me already? Is that why you came here?"

"Well… sort of…" Light muttered, trying to reach L's gaze to get some help from him.

But L wasn't good with ladies so he decided to let Light deal with this all by himself since he had flattered himself for having such "natural charm", as he had put it.

Misa let go of Light. She looked at his face properly for the first time this morning. She gasped and cried: "Oh my! Light, your face looks _awful_!"

Light bit his lip again. "I know that, Misa…" he grumbled. "You don't need to remind me of that."

Misa turned towards L whom she had been ignoring until now. "This is all your doings!" she said judgmentally. "You ruined our date yesterday and beat Light up to that condition!"

"Technically…" L replied, taking a step closer to Misa. "Light-kun punched me first. I just paid him back. He was the one who ruined the date. And he came here to make it all up to you, Misa-san."

Misa turned back to Light. "Is it true?" she asked, her eyes glistening.

"Yes…" Light replied a bit haltingly.

"Oh yay!" Misa yelled and hugged Light again.

"So… Light-kun suggested that we could have some breakfast together today", L said. "Please follow me, you two."

* * *

Watari had set the breakfast for them in another room in the headquarters. It was the same room where they had been on the date the day before.

There was proper food – like croissants, fruits, bacon and eggs – for Misa and Light. But there also were cupcakes, potato chips and strawberry-flavored Pocky sticks – and of course coffee and plenty of sugar cubes.

All three of them sat down around the table and started to eat. Misa and Light ate mostly only the proper food but of course as a dessert they ate some of L's sweeties – although Misa seemed to be avoiding them since her opinion was that eating sweet things caused weight problems.

Light's eating was suddenly interrupted by L who was poking his arm with his forefinger. Light turned his head towards L.

"What is it, Ryuzaki?" he asked.

L handed a potato chip bag towards him holding it between his forefinger and thumb from one edge. Light took the potato chip bag from him.

"Take it as an apology for kicking you so hard, Light-kun", L said turning back towards his sweet breakfast.

Light looked at the present that L had given to him. It was a bag of consommé-flavored potato chips. It was his favorite flavor.

"How did you know…?" he asked, turning his gaze towards L who was sitting next to him the same strange way that he always sat.

"Know what?" L asked, cramming a cupcake into his mouth.

"The consommé flavor…" Light replied, looking at the chips bag. "It's my favorite… I never told you that…"

"Oh, is it really?" L mumbled with his mouth full of cupcake. He turned his head towards Light. His black eyes were even wider than usually. Light didn't know if L was really surprised. Actually he supposed not.

"I must have seen you eating those…" L muttered, gnawing one of the strawberry-flavored Pocky stick. "I mean – when I was monitoring your house via surveillance cameras."

"Oh, right…" Light muttered, looking at the potato chips bag in his hands again. He didn't want to continue this conversation because the topic of this conversation was implying to that Light was Kira. And he was _not_. Yet L had monitored his house and discovered nothing but that he liked consommé-flavored potato chips… No, Light had wanted to the confinement himself. Back then there had been something that had really made him think himself as Kira. L had agreed to put him in confinement so… Could he actually really be Kira…? Without having consciousness of it…

"Is something the matter, Light-kun?" L asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"No… I'm fine", Light replied. He opened the potato chip bag and took out one chip and ate it. The flavor was the same as always, the one he really liked. It made him feel better. "Would you like to have some, Ryuzaki? How about you, Misa?" he asked.

"No thanks, Light", Misa replied. "They're pretty unhealthy…"

Light handed the bag towards L who shook his head. "I don't like the consommé flavor that much…" he said, eating another strawberry-flavored Pocky stick.

Light put the potato chip bag away so that he could eat the chips later. "Are those really that good, Ryuzaki?" he asked L who ate yet another Pocky stick.

"C'mon, Light", Misa said. "You know that Ryuzaki loves sweets. He never eats anything proper food…"

"Sugar keeps your brain going", L said, taking the whole strawberry Pocky packet from the table. "And yes, these are really good. You should try them, Light-kun. You too, Misa-san."

"No thanks", Misa replied dryly.

Light leaned his back against the back of the couch he was sitting on. He had thought about asking from Misa if the girl could help him to cover the ugly bruise on his cheek with make-up. But now that he thought about it again, he decided to not to ask. Almost inadvertently he took one Pocky stick out of the packet that L was handing towards him. He guessed that there would be no harm in eating one. He idly put the stick into his mouth.

"Oh, by the way, Light", Misa said suddenly, looking at Light, her eyes glistening again. "My manager Matsui told me that I'll be starring in director Nishinaka's next movie. Isn't that just great?"

"Yes, I heard about that", Light said, crossing his legs. "Congratulations."

Misa smiled at him and her eyes glistened even more. "But you're still the most important person in my entire life", she said. "So don't worry. We shall go on dates again. I'll arrange some time even though I'll have plenty of shootings."

Light wasn't worried a slightest bit about that would she have enough time to go on dates with him in future. He was more interested in the Kira investigation. Therefore it was a pity that Ryuzaki seemed to have a lack of motivation… But his appetite was clearly unchanged.

Light looked at L who had already eaten all of the strawberry Pocky sticks. He was now holding the empty packet upside-down in between his fingers and shaking it to see if there was any left. But there wasn't.

Light suddenly became aware of the Pocky stick in between his own lips. And so seemed L also remember that he had given one to Light, too. He turned towards him.

"You want this, Ryuzaki…?" Light asked with the stick still in his mouth. He didn't think that Ryuzaki would like to have a stick that had already been in his mouth. But he was wrong.

"Can I really have it?" L asked, leaning closer to Light on the couch.

Light nodded. He froze to stare at L's face. Honestly – anyone couldn't really possibly desire sweets that much as L did.

"Yuck, Ryuzaki, you're icky", Misa said, pouting her nose.

L leaned even closer to Light. He took a bit of the stick that Light was still having in between his lips. Light totally froze. L put his hand on the back of Light's head to hold him still as he ate the strawberry Pocky stick from Light's mouth with a focused expression on his face.

Light felt the blood rushing to his face. L really didn't seem to understand what made other people feel themselves embarrassed. This situation was awkward but it became far more awkward as L had pretty quickly eaten the stick so far that his lips almost touched Light's lips. At that point Light leaned backwards. But L's hand was holding him still. Light gulped. L licked his lips. His wide, black eyes stared at Light's brown ones and the distance between their faces was just about a centimeter. Then L let go of Light and returned to his own seat seeming to be content.

Light blinked his eyes. He was almost completely paralyzed. Misa glared at L with a jealous face. She would have wanted to eat the Pocky stick from Light's mouth. For that she would have risked her ideal weight. L ignored Misa and started to drink coffee with a large amount of sugar. Light was moving restlessly. He was trying to hide his face from both L and Misa.

"Are you feeling all right, Light-kun?" L asked, turning his head towards Light.

Light was still avoiding L's gaze as he replied with a tense tone: "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

* * *

**I had to write something like this to happen between Light and L since this is a fic containing pairing L x Light. And I really don't know how I came up with the idea for this... But since I enjoy writing awkward situations, I wrote this. ;D Hopefully I'll come up with new ideas for other awkward situations - and suggestions are naturally very welcome. (:**

**Hope you liked this. :3**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	8. Chapter 8

Several days passed by. Every day was pretty much the same. Light slept his essential beauty sleep every night and gradually got rid of the bruise on his cheek. L stayed awake next to him every night, suffering from some sort of chronic insomnia. Light never saw him sleeping. When he fell asleep, L stayed awake. And when he woke up, L was also awake. He wondered if all the things that troubled L's mind kept him awake constantly. Or perhaps it was because of the amount of sugar and coffee that he ate and drank every day…

Every morning Light took a shower and changed his clothes. He also made L wash more often than the detective usually did. L wasn't very cooperative when it came to that matter but he didn't put up a fight for such a meaningless thing. He did as Light told him to do so that the brunette would stop fussing.

Light asked from L why he never wore socks. L simply replied that he didn't like them at all. He was always barefoot. Light didn't make him wear socks. He didn't make him do anything else either. He had just been annoyed because the guy that he was chained together with didn't take enough care of his personal hygiene in his opinion.

They didn't go on dates with Misa that often anymore since her shootings started. But from time to time they did. Misa had gotten used to L's presence – though, she didn't know that he was the world's best detective. She only knew him by the alias Ryuzaki. Light didn't agree to get information from Misa by pretending to have a crush on her and so L didn't urge him to do so.

When Misa wasn't with L and Light, the two young men played chess together or had conversations that didn't need Misa's commentary. L's lack of motivation didn't seem to be gone but Light instead of him was eager to investigate. L let him use the computers. He was still confused because of the change that had happened with Light's personality. Before the confinement Light had been so very serious, somehow inhibited and distant young man that seemed to enjoy competing and winning L. He still enjoyed those things but now he seemed to be a lot more sincere and truly and innocently excited about going after Kira. To L it didn't seem pretending that Light was enjoying his company and wanting to be his friend. L needed to see if this really was the real Yagami Light and if he really had been controlled by Kira before the confinement. It was almost like a heavy burden had been removed from Light's shoulders. Perhaps that was because he didn't think himself as Kira anymore like he had been thinking before the confinement. But even though Light was completely convinced about that he was not Kira, it still troubled L's already troubled mind.

* * *

"Ryuzaki", Light called the black-haired detective who was sitting near him on a chair. Light sat on his own chair and worked on a computer. "I know you're not in the mood but please come here for a second", he said to L who had turned his back on him.

L looked at Light over his shoulder as he heard the brunette calling him. He hopped off his chair and slouched to Light.

"Look at this", Light said, pointing at the computer screen with his forefinger. "Look at this sudden growth here and this change here."

L was standing behind Light's back and he leaned over the brunette's shoulder to see the computer screen better. L's eyes widened even wider than they already were. The corners of his mouths curved into a smile of excitement.

"Light-kun…" he said slowly, leaning his head even closer to the screen.

"Are you still having a lack of motivation?" Light asked him, looking at the screen too. He was proud of his discovery.

L cocked his head a little. "If this is connected to Kira, then perhaps punishing criminal isn't the true goal of this Kira…" L muttered.

"Of _this _Kira…?" Light repeated, turning his head towards L. He surprised as he noticed that L's face was so close to his own. L's chin actually almost touched Light's shoulder. L's wide eyes stared at him.

"So you… you think that this is another Kira again?" Light asked him.

"Yes, it's possible", L replied, still staring at Light's face. "The first Kira was killing criminals in order to punish those who had committed crimes and warn others not to do so. You, Light-kun, you once said that if an adult had Kira's power, he would use it for his own benefit or to make money. This Kira seems to be doing just that. So I think this must be completely different from the first Kira."

"You believe that Kira's power can be transferred from a person to another, right?" Light asked.

"Yes, that's correct", L replied. "The Kira killings stopped after you had been put in confinement but criminals started to die again after you had been in confinement for two weeks… And if you were controlled by Kira which isn't likely since you are still alive… then you weren't controlled by him anymore… And if you _were _Kira… then you transferred the power to another person who started to kill criminals while you were in confinement. And you apparently also lost all of your memories of being Kira."

Light stood up so suddenly that L stumbled backwards. The brunette turned slowly towards the black-haired detective.

"Stop saying such things!" he yelled at L. "I'm not Kira!"

"How do you know if you've lost all the memories of doing the killings?" L asked calmly.

Light took a step closer to him. "How could I possibly kill so many people without having any memories left of it?"

L shrugged. He stared at Light with a strict face. "Since Kira and the second Kira existed at the same time and both killed criminals… I believe that this Kira was killing criminals at first to look like the previous Kira but then started to use the power for his own benefit", he said.

"I agree", Light said with a tense tone. He sat back down and sighed, turning his head back towards the computer screen.

L came to stand behind his chair again. "But this is definitely worth investigating, Light-kun", he said. "Very impressive research." He put his hand on Light's arm.

"Thanks", Light said, focusing on the screen. He was calm again and started to explain how he had discovered the thing that he had just showed to L. "I started to investigate if there were any killings that we still hadn't connected to Kira yet", he said. "I assumed that Kira was in Japan so I worked based on that information. I searched for all those people who had died of heart attacks recently including the non-criminals. I soon discovered three suspicious deaths. Two could be coincidence but not three. And all of them were important people in the Japanese business world and all of them died of heart attacks. Then I investigated Yotsuba closely and noticed that its stock has been rising steadily. And I discovered that thirteen suspicious deaths have been beneficial to Yotsuba in only three months. Besides those earlier three, the rest of them died in accidents or by disease. One committed suicide and two were killed by Kira after being indicted for corruption…"

L nodded slowly. He was looking at the computer screen, seeming to be going all through in his mind.

"What do you think, Ryuzaki?" Light asked, turning his gaze towards L.

"We could assume that Kira is supporting Yotsuba…" L replied. "But if that's the case… then – "

"Kira can kill in ways other than just heart attacks", Light said, finishing L's sentence. He faced the gaze of L's serious, wide, black eyes.

Light's eyes were full of enthusiasm and exuberance like this had been something that he was very pleased to do. He was eager to catch Kira. And L could tell that just by looking at his face and he was doing that just now. Yagami Light's brown, intelligent and adorable looking Bambi-eyes showed something that seemed to be real joy. Joy – because he could finally start to hunt Kira and use his outstanding reasoning abilities and work with L, the man he deeply admired and respected because of his immeasurable intelligence and special way of thinking.  
Light noticed that L was still holding his arm. He moved a little so that L would understand to let go. But L – regardless of all that intelligence he possessed – didn't understand things like this. L's grip just tightened. Light's gaze was captured by L's curious, wide eyes that tried to study him.

_If Kira can indeed kill in ways other than heart attack, then there might be important victims that I haven't been able to connect to Kira…_ L was still staring in Light's brown eyes without blinking.

"Light-kun…" he said. His serious and strict face suddenly showed some excitement. "You've done great work. Impressive. You've restored my motivation. Thank you for that." The tone of his voice was for once not that monotonic as usual.

It felt good to hear some compliments from the detective that Light admired so much. He smiled and even uttered laughter. He felt like he hadn't smiled or laughed this freely and sincerely for a long time. He was really enjoying himself here. He gripped L's shoulders and gave him a quick hug.

L lurched towards Light being a bit surprised and frightened of Light's sudden action. He gripped the brunette's shirt tightly. It felt a bit strange to him, be so close to someone – especially to Light who was so… or at least _had been_ so distant and inhibited. And this was_ Light's_ action – not L's. L couldn't tell if Light usually hugged his friends or if people usually ever hugged their friends but he guessed that many people did and it was just natural. But in his opinion Light wasn't that type of personality.

"Why, Light-kun?" he asked Light.

Light let go of L. "Why what?" he asked.

"Why did you do that?"

Light looked at L's pale face and muttered: "I… I don't know… I just felt like it." Then he lowered his gaze towards the floor. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…"

"No, no", L said quickly. "We're friends. Isn't that just normal?"

Light looked at L's face again. Indeed… L hadn't had any friends before him – if L was telling him the truth – so perhaps he really didn't know what kinds of things friends usually did together. He was living so insularly that he didn't know… Once again L had managed to surprise Light. It felt like he had been with an ignorant child again.

"I guess it is", Light replied after a pause.

"So I can hug Light-kun whenever I want?" L asked.

Light was abashed. L clearly didn't know how to act in these kinds of situations but those questions were… odd.

"Yes… I guess", he replied once again with a little hesitation. "Anyway, you can let go of me now, Ryuzaki."

"Oh, right…" L muttered and released Light's shirt from his grip.

"Ryuzaki, Light!" someone shouted all of the sudden.

L and Light turned their heads towards the shouter. It was Matsuda who had just come in.

"Ryuzaki, the chief wants to talk with you about something", Matsuda said walking towards Light and L. "He just came back here and wants us all to gather together to hear it."

"Very well", L said putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Light-kun and I wanted to tell you all something too. So let's go, Light-kun, Matsuda-san."

* * *

**I felt like the story should continue rolling on... so I had to focus on the Kira investigation for a change. But I also managed to add there a scene of L and Light hugging each other. This time L was the one who felt himself more awkward. With this I wanted to emphasize the fact that L has never had friends before Light and he actually doesn't know how to be a good friend to someone and what friends do together. Light feels some sort of superiority because of L's ignorance in the situations like that. But the ignorance of world's greatest detective also perplexes him. **

**I wanted this story to tell about the unusual frienship between L and Light after Light has lost all of his memories of being Kira. Without having the memories, Light can truly be L's friend since he doesn't remember that L is his enemy and that Light wanted to kill him to reach his goal. L wants to be Light's friend but he can't help himself thinking Light as Kira. So perhaps their friendship is just a lie but a beautiful one... This, I guess, is pretty much the theme of this story and hopefully it is (and will be) conveyed through the story itself.**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	9. Chapter 9

Light, L, Matsuda, Aizawa, Soichiro Yagami and Mogi had gathered together in the monitoring room in the headquarters. They were sitting around a table on couches. L and Light were sitting on a couch together, Aizawa and Matsuda on another and Soichiro Yagami and Mogi on the third one. Watari had brought some coffee to L. He had also brought a bowl of cherries.

"So who goes first?" Matsuda asked. "Ryuzaki and Light wanted to tell something to all of us and chief also had something to tell."

"Let Ryuzaki and Light go first", Soichiro Yagami said.

"All right", L said, dropping a huge amount of sugar cubes into his coffee cup. "Light-kun made a discovery for the Kira case. Please take a look at these." L handed Soichiro Yagami a bunch of papers that had Light's information on them.

Soichiro Yagami looked at the papers and then handed them to Mogi who handed them forward to the next person so that everyone could read them. At the same time L explained the things to everyone with Light's assisting.

When L and Light had finished explaining, everyone fell silent for a moment.

"Hmm… This indeed is looking suspicious…" said Aizawa who was glaring at papers at the moment. "This many people against Yotsuba die…"

"Yotsuba must be sabotaging the other companies…" Matsuda muttered. "This looks like it."

"No-one would do that nowadays…" Aizawa said with a skeptical tone.

"Light-kun and I assume that Yotsuba is doing so", L said, mixing his coffee with a spoon. He held the spoon in between his forefinger and thumb. "The question is whether Kira is behind this or not…"

"You're saying that this might be Kira's doings?" Aizawa asked L.

"Three of the deaths were caused by a heart attack, so it's possible…" L replied, looking at his coffee. "But don't put too much faith in me. My reasoning might be wrong…" _Again... _

Light gave L a meaningful look. He didn't want the detective to sulk like that. It was pathetic. Besides Light knew that deep down L didn't think that his reasoning had ever been wrong. He believed that Light had been Kira and even though he didn't have evidence to proof it, he still believed that he was right about it and kept talking about it.

"I think that there's a possibility that Kira is helping Yotsuba", Light said, supporting L.

"Huh, you too, Light?" Matsuda turned his head towards the brunette young man. "I guess you must be right. Light and Ryuzaki believing in the same theory – it can't be wrong."

"Oh, it can be", L muttered quietly with his monotonic tone and sipped his coffee.

"So has Yotsuba hired Kira to help them?" Aizawa asked.

"Why would Kira want to help Yotsuba…?" Matsuda wondered. "I thought he was punishing criminals."

"He was", Aizawa said. "But perhaps he figured he'd need money and went to Yotsuba and they hired him…"

"No way", Matsuda argued. "Kira wouldn't do that. That'd be so uncool."

"What? You think Kira is cool, Matsuda?" Aizawa snapped at him.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Matsuda revised quickly.

"Cut it out, you two", Soichiro Yagami said. Then he turned towards L. "What do you think, Ryuzaki? Has Yotsuba hired Kira?"

"No, that's _very _unlikely", L replied, taking a cherry from the bowl. He held the cherry in between his fingers and looked at it closely as he kept on talking. "Kira didn't go to Yotsuba because he wants to keep his identity as a secret. The Kira I know would kill anyone who uncovers his identity. And it's not possible that Yotsuba was able to find Kira before I could. "

Matsuda, Aizawa and Mogi exchanged glances with each other but Light and his father Soichiro Yagami kept looking at L.

"But didn't you just say that your reasoning might be wrong…?" Aizawa asked L.

"I was just playing cynical back then", L replied, throwing the cherry into his mouth. "But I have a theory. Most likely Kira is one of the members of Yotsuba. Or at least there is someone who has the same power as Kira. We need to do some research on Yotsuba."

L took the cherry stem out of his mouth. He had knotted it with his tongue. The others looked at the black-haired detective with different kinds of expressions. Most of them were thinking that knotting cherry stems with a tongue was gross. But Light was also thinking that it probably asked about lot of skill to make a knot with a tongue. Though, he didn't come up with anything what that kind of skill could be useful with.

"Yagami-san, you also had something to tell, isn't that correct?" L asked Light's father, ignoring the glances of the others.

"Yes, that's right", Soichiro Yagami replied. "As you all know, I was just visiting director Kitamura and heard that Kira has started bribing politicians."

"With Yotsuba's money… Could that be it?" Aizawa suggested. "That should aid our request to seek applicants to join the investigation…"

"No, unfortunately it's the opposite", Soichiro Yagami said with a serious look on his face. "The police have officially given up. And I was told that we need to quit working with L or we'd be fired."

"What?" Matsuda and Aizawa shrieked at the same time.

"They might be threatened by Kira but that's the decision from the top", Soichiro Yagami said. "Mogi and I have decided to continue working with L and resign from the NPA. If you want to continue hunting Kira, Aizawa and Matsuda, you need to resign too."

Matsuda and Aizawa fell silent. For a moment anyone didn't speak. This was a serious matter. They wouldn't only be risking their lives anymore but also their careers.

L dipped a cherry into his coffee and put it into his mouth. "I think you should all go back to the police", he said, interrupting the silence. Everyone's gaze turned immediately towards him. He swallowed the cherry and looked at his coffee as if he was talking to it as he kept on talking. "I was all alone in the beginning. With the support that you have given me until now… I'll be able to continue investigating on my own."

"But Ryuzaki…" Light said to the black-haired man who was sitting in that weird position of his next to the brunette. "You won't be alone as long as we're handcuffed together. I'll stick with you."

L looked at Light from the corner of his eye. "Yes… Light-kun will be with me until we catch Kira", he said. "And I appreciate your help, Light-kun." Then L looked at his coffee cup and continued talking as if he had been talking to his coffee again. "But the rest of you should return to the police. As long as you're not police officers, you're just ordinary civilians. And if the police have decided not to go after Kira, so it shall be. I'm able to continue just with Light-kun now. The police was useful during the Sakura TV incident but if you resign, then I won't possess the connection to the police anymore and so I need to forget about it."

Aizawa, Matsuda and Mogi exchanged glances with each other again but this time their faces showed depression. But Soichiro Yagami kept on persuading L.

"But we've come this far risking our lives", he said. "Please at least let us make the decision ourselves. I would like to continue working with you, Ryuzaki."

L didn't say anything. He just stared at his coffee with an absentminded look on his pale face.

"Ryuzaki, let them choose", Light said to him.

L raised his gaze up at Light. "Very well", he said. He turned his gaze towards the others and said: "Then please choose."

"I'm going after Kira with you, Ryuzaki", Soichiro Yagami said. "I'll resign from the NPA."

Mogi nodded determinedly.

"Me too", Matsuda announced. "Here I feel like I've been useful. And besides it would be pathetic to quit now when the police do."

"Matsuda, be careful with the things you say", Soichiro Yagami reproached.

Aizawa – unlike the others – didn't seem to know immediately what to choose.

Matsuda looked ashamed. "I didn't mean to…" he muttered to Aizawa.

Aizawa wanted to go after Kira but he didn't want to resign from the NPA and lose his job. He had a small child and a wife. He needed to have a job to get salary. He suggested that he could return to the police and help on his free time. L didn't accept that. The police was his enemy now – not an ally anymore. And if Aizawa was with the police, he couldn't be helping him. Aizawa swore that he would never reveal any information of L or his investigation to the police but L wasn't convinced. Or perhaps he was but he couldn't allow Aizawa return to the police and still continue working with him. Aizawa understood that. Besides the police would probably see him only as L's spy anyway… He really didn't know what to do.

"Nobody will blame you if you do quit now, Aizawa", Soichiro Yagami said with a comforting tone. Matsuda was nodding as a sign of agreement.

"But it's just not fair…" Aizawa hissed. "I was prepared to die anytime… I want to go after Kira with you guys…"

Everyone fell silent for a moment again. Then Watari, who had been standing back until now, spoke.

"But Ryuzaki, in the beginning you told me to make preparations so that all of the task force members would be financially secure no matter what happened – even if they got fired from the police", the old gentleman said. "Why are you not mentioning that?"

L looked gloomy. "Who asked _you_ to mention it, Watari?"

"Oh, I'm sorry", Watari replied, bowing his head as an apology.

"But wait…" Matsuda said looking at Aizawa. "Isn't that just great? You can continue working with Ryuzaki since your family is financially secure!"

Aizawa was looking at L and didn't seem to be happy at all. He stood up. "Ryuzaki…" he said. "You wanted to see whether I'd resign or abandon you, isn't that right?"

Soichiro Yagami and Matsuda immediately shook their heads and opened their mouths to utter something to defend L. But L managed to speak first.

"Yes, that's correct", he said as if he had been talking to his coffee again. "I wanted to see which he would choose."

Everyone fell silent once again and they all stared at L who calmly and casually sipped his coffee, ignoring everything and everyone else around him.

Then Aizawa spoke. "All right", he said, sounding bilious. "I'll return to the NPA and quit working with you, Ryuzaki."

"But Aizawa…" Matsuda mumbled.

"Matsuda, I can't continue working here", Aizawa said. "I don't like Ryuzaki. I don't like the way he works."

L didn't seem to be insulted. "I respect that decision, Aizawa-san", he just said, still staring at his coffee cup. "Though I like people like you."

Aizawa didn't seem to take that as a compliment. "I'm leaving", he said and was already going.

"Take care", L just muttered with his monotonic tone, taking yet another cherry from the bowl.

* * *

**In the original series I liked really much that part when L tests Aizawa and Aizawa leaves after hesitating so much with the decision (I like Aizawa, he is a good character). Hopefully this chapter didn't turn out to be too boring since there doesn't happen anything particular in it - I mean if you think about the relationship between Light and L.**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	10. Chapter 10

For a couple of following days everyone in the Japanese Task Force was really busy. Watari was absent most of the time and only L knew his whereabouts – the others really didn't even have time to worry about that. The lack of investigators was causing problems but L was determined. They were able to catch Kira – no matter what.

Also Matsuda was absent quite often since he was Misa's new manager. Misa had to be in the movie shootings pretty often and Matsuda needed to be with her. Matsuda was eager to do his new job as a manager of Misa-Misa – as he called her. But he also wanted to do something to help with the Kira investigation. Actually he had started to believe that L had made him Misa's manager only to get him out of the way. In that case L didn't even want him to be helping with the real investigation. He wanted to get Misa and Matsuda both out of his way and having Matsuda as Misa's manager, he smashed two flies with only one strike. Matsuda really admired L's skills but he didn't like his way of thinking and acting. He was clearly letting Matsuda do all the tedious work – not that being Misa's manager was tedious… But L didn't think that Matsuda was able to help with the investigation. So to him Matsuda was only a tool to get rid of Misa temporarily. But Matsuda had decided not to let L deject him, even though he knew why he had been selected to be Misa's manager. He believed that if he managed to be useful in other ways too, L might give him more credit.

Soichiro Yagami – who was no longer a police chief – had found out that the Yotsuba Kira killings were focused on the weekends. That surprised L and he immediately started to wonder for what reason.

Mogi hardly spoke but he did all the work that was given to him. It was actually pretty quiet and peaceful in the Task Force while Matsuda and Misa were both gone.

Light was thinking. He was ignoring everything around him and just stared forward without actually seeing anything in front of him. Mogi and Light's father were talking about something with each other in the opposite corner of the room and also L was naturally in the same room with Light. The black-haired detective was sitting in that strange position of his and he was doing something that Light really didn't pay attention to. The chain of the handcuffs made a jingle from time to time as L moved his right hand that the chain was attached to. But the constant jingling didn't manage to interrupt Light's thoughts. Misa and Matsuda were both in the shootings once again and also Watari was somewhere absent. So it was nicely quiet.

And no matter how unusual it was Light was now going through in his mind something that he usually didn't want anyone to talk about. He wasn't Kira. He never wanted to think himself as Kira. He never even wanted anyone to mention that he could be Kira. L often did which made Light mad at him. But now – regardless of all that – Light was thinking that he actually _could _be Kira. L's reasoning… It was so impressive that Light almost believed it. He couldn't help himself noticing how everything really made sense in L's theory – except that why he hadn't been killed if he had been controlled by Kira. Unless… _he_ had been Kira and he had transferred the deadly power to another person to make himself look innocent. But why couldn't he remember any of it…? Why couldn't he remember doing the killings…?

_That's just because I'm not Kira. Yes, I'm not. Why am I even thinking about this…? It's already enough that L is suspecting me… I have no reason to start suspecting myself. That's just crazy… How could I ever convince L of my innocence if I, _myself_, am starting to believe that I'm Kira? That's impossible. I can't be Kira. I am not. I couldn't possibly kill that many people. I couldn't commit a murder, no matter how much I hated the person. Kira wants to rid the world of evil. It's true that there are people that the world would be better off without… But I still couldn't kill anyone…_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted and at first Light really didn't know what had actually caused it. But he soon noticed that the constant jingling (that L had been causing) had stopped. He turned his head towards the detective who was sitting next to him. The detective was staring straight back at him. Light blinked his eyes and gave L an interrogative look.

"I was just wondering if something is the matter, Light-kun", the detective said. "You've been sitting there for a long time doing nothing with that same expression on your face. What were you thinking?"

Light couldn't lie that he had been working on the computer because he had been staring at the wall, not at the computer screen that was on the table in front of him. But he also couldn't tell L about his real thoughts. It was crazy to assume that he had been Kira. He didn't want to make L suspect him even more so he decided not to tell about his real thoughts.

"I'm just a bit tired, that's all", he replied, stretching his arms.

"Would you like to take a nap?" L asked, tilting his head but still not turning his gaze away from Light.

"No, no, I'm fine", Light replied quickly but not suspiciously quickly. "We're already shorthanded. I've got no time to sleep. We need everyone here."

L frowned a little. "But Light-kun isn't that useful when he is tired and not able to focus properly."

Light looked at L's face, remaining silent for a moment. Was L really concerned about him…? Did Light really seem to need a nap that much…? He doubted that. L was just worrying about the investigation. If Light wasn't working like all others but constantly losing his focusing, he wasn't a big help. So it really didn't matter if he was sleeping or just sitting and doing nothing – but of course rather sleeping because then he would spend his idle time for something useful, like gaining energy.

"Yeah, you're right, Ryuzaki…" he finally admitted. "But I really can't sleep right now. Later."

L nodded slowly. Then he turned towards the thing that he had been working on before turning to talk with Light. The brunette watched what he was doing. L had built on the table an elaborate tower of marshmallows that he started to dismantle by eating a marshmallow from the top.

"How about a little snack then, Light-kun?" the detective asked, still focusing on his marshmallow tower but offering a potato chip back towards Light at the same time.

The consommé flavor. Light took the bag from L. "Thanks…" he muttered, starting to eat the chips. But for some reason he still didn't feel any better. Now that L had suggested taking a nap, he really started to think that he needed one. He sighed and put the potato chip bag away.

L turned his gaze towards Light again. He abandoned the marshmallow tower and slouched to Light and asked: "Are you sure you're feeling all right, Light-kun?" He leaned his face awkwardly close to Light's. "Have you lost your appetite?"

Light shook his head wearily. "I just don't feel like eating right now…"

L cocked his head trying to reach the gaze of Light's brown eyes. "Is Light-kun sick?" he asked.

Light didn't reply. He wanted to spend some time alone right now but it was impossible since he was handcuffed to L. He didn't have time to think that he could be Kira himself. He was on the wrong trail… Kira was a criminal who needed to be caught. He couldn't think himself as Kira. That wouldn't lead him any further with the investigation.

Light returned back to the present when L suddenly pressed his hand against the brunette's forehead. Light blinked his eyes and stared at the black-haired man who calmly touched his forehead. L ignored Light's surprised look and gripped the brunette's face and pressed his own cold cheek gently against Light's forehead. Light suddenly felt like his face had been on fire and L's cheek felt so cold against his skin. A vivid red appeared on Light's face.

"Ryuzaki… What are you doing…?" he asked abashedly.

"I'm just checking if Light-kun has a fever", L replied releasing Light from his grip. He gingerly touched Light's cheek with his hand. "Your face looks a bit red actually… And your cheek is pretty warm…" He looked at Light who tried to avoid his gaze. "Perhaps you really need to take a nap, Light-kun. Please feel free to do so. It'll make you feel much better."

"Ryuzaki is right", Soichiro Yagami remarked. He had been listening to the conversation between L and Light for a while. "You need to rest a little, Light. I'm proud of your dedication but you must not forget about yourself. Go and take a nap."

Light sighed and nodded. "You're probably right…"

* * *

Light was lying on the bed that he and L shared together. He turned the gaze of his innocent looking Bambi-eyes towards the man who sat on the bed next to him.

"Ryuzaki…"

L bit the nail of his forefinger as he turned his gaze towards Light. "Yes, Light-kun?"

Light closed his eyes and said quietly: "This will be over once we catch Kira, right…?"

"Light-kun means… what exactly…?"

Light sighed. "After we've caught Kira I'll be free to leave, right? And then I'll never meet you again."

L fell silent for a moment. He started to bite the nail of his thumb. "We may see each other again, Light-kun", he said after a pause. "Especially if you become a police officer. Perhaps then – who knows – we'll work together again someday. L will always have cases to solve."

Light opened his eyes and looked at the strange genius who sat next to him in that characteristic position of his. Yes, L would definitely always have cases to solve… He fought against the evil of the world and there were enough bad guys for him to hunt for the rest of his life. But what made L want to do his job? Why did he believe in justice so much? Well, he was a genius and he used his skills to help the mankind. But yet still he rarely got the credit to himself since he used others to work for him. But it was him, that strange young man, behind the solutions. He was a hero who didn't get the credit that belonged to him. Light admired that modesty of his. It was noble to fight for the mankind without gaining any glory to oneself. In Light's opinion the ones who got the skills were supposed to help the others.

"But you won't come back to school again, will you?" he quietly asked.

"No, I don't think I will", L replied, staring at his own toes. "But I'd gladly spend more time with you, Light-kun."

A bit unsure smile appeared on Light's face as he looked at L. It would be boring to be at the university without Ryuga (a.k.a. L) around. He was the only person whom Light could have a proper conversation with. And Hideki Ryuga had also been the only person who had offered him a proper opponent in tennis.

"Anyway, you should sleep now, Light-kun", L said. "I promise to wake you up if anything new appears considering the Kira case."

"Alright…" Light muttered, closing his eyes again.

After a while a peaceful expression appeared on Light's face and his breathing slowed down. L knew he had fallen asleep.

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter didn't turn out to be too boring... I didn't want to write about the Kira investigation too accurately so... this chapter tells a little bit about the things that the members of the Task Force do to help with the investigation. I also wanted to bring out Light's growing suspicions towards himself. He definitely wants to catch Kira to prove his own innocence but he also has a new concern: what happens to the frienship between him and L after they have caught Kira?**

**Hopefully the next chapter will finally contain more action... **

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	11. Chapter 11

L didn't want to wake up the beautiful, sleeping young man who slumbered so peacefully next to him on the bed. Watari had visited L just a moment ago. He had asked L and Light to come to the monitoring room with the others so that he could tell something essential to everyone. So L really had to wake Light up.

The detective crouched closer to sleeping Light and started to poke the brunette's soft cheek with his finger. Light slowly opened his big Bambi-eyes. L composedly waited as the brunette focused his gaze on the detective's face. L had – once again – leant his face awfully close to Light's. He had quitted poking the younger one's face but his hand was resting on Light's cheek. Light froze as he realized that. He lay on his back and just stared deep into L's wide, black eyes which were so close to his own – only few centimeters away… Those mysterious eyes had captured his gaze. He lost every single one of his thoughts.

"R- Ryuzaki…" he finally managed to breathe, still staring into L's eyes.

"Light-kun seems to be feeling better now", L said ignoring the fact that Light seemed to be abashed. He took his hand off and leaned back. "No fever", he announced.

Light quickly turned his gaze away from L. He blushed lightly. Once again L had only been checking if he had a fever. He bit his lip. Of course! What else had he thought that L had been doing …?

"Light-kun?"

"Great, I'm feeling much better now", Light quickly replied, making a big, careless smile with his face and turning his gaze back at L.

L stared at him with his wide eyes. The detective sat on the bed the same way he always did. He didn't smile back at Light, even though Light's smile was quite enchanting."Good", he just said with his monotonic tone. "Shall we return back to the others then? Watari has something to tell."

* * *

Misa and Matsuda were still absent but everyone else had gathered together to the couches when L and Light joined their company.

"Detective Eraldo Coil has been asked to uncover L's identity", Watari announced with a serious tone.

"By who?" L calmly asked, starting to eat marshmallows from a bowl that bad been placed on the table.

"I was able to determine that the request came from Yotsuba", Watari replied.

"From Yotsuba?" Soichiro Yagami repeated. "So Yotsuba really is connected to Kira…"

"In that case they want to uncover L's identity to kill him…" Light muttered. He sat next to L.

L heard his words but he didn't seem to be worried at all. He took a marshmallow from the bowl and put it into his mouth.

"This is bad…" Soichiro Yagami muttered. "We are already shorthanded and now we need to worry about Coil too…"

"No, no", L said chewing a marshmallow in his mouth at the same time. "There is no need to worry." He swallowed the marshmallow and said: "I, in fact, am Eraldo Coil."

Light, his father and Mogi exchanged surprised and disbelieving glances with each other. Then they all looked at L.

"_You_, Eraldo Coil?" Soichiro Yagami asked with an astounded tone. "Coil is said to be good at locating people. He is one of the world's best detectives besides L. Reputedly, he'll take any job or case if he is just paid enough."

L put yet another marshmallow into his mouth. He gave Soichiro Yagami a look that told him that L was very aware of those things. After all, _he_ was Eraldo Coil himself.

"And not only Coil actually… but also Deneuve", he said. "L, Coil, Deneuve – the three top detectives in the world. They are all me."

Everyone, except Watari, looked at him with astonished faces again. There had been no arrogance in L's voice. And he seemed to be serious.

Light was impressed and so were Mogi and Soichiro Yagami. L was full of mysteries and apparently he wasn't _just_ L – not just _one_ great detective but two more. All this time Light had been thinking that Ryuzaki and Hideki Ryuga were just identities – fictional persons – that L had been acting to cover his real identity. But perhaps even L wasn't the real person behind all the aliases. Perhaps L was just one of the numerous aliases and personalities that the man – Ryuzaki, or whoever he was – was playing. So who was he _really_…? Did anyone know? Did even Watari know his real name? Did L _himself_ ever have hard time knowing who he _really_ was…?

Light wanted to consider L his friend. But was it really _L_ that was his friend? Or was it Hideki Ryuga…? Or Ryuzaki…? Light wanted to know that man – the real part of him, that part of him that wasn't pretending or acting. He wanted to know who he _truly_ was – not all those persons that he was acting. Who was the man behind all the cover identities and fake names?

L took another marshmallow from the bowl. "Watari is the intermediary of all three of them", he continued explaining. "And usually people, trying to uncover L's identity, ask either Deneuve or Coil to help. So there is nothing to worry about."

Light gave L an admiring look. "As impressive as always, Ryuzaki", he said to him.

L didn't reply. He was looking at the marshmallow that he was now holding in between his fingers.

"So what do you suggest us to do now, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro Yagami asked. "Yotsuba is connected to Kira and they are after you. What can we do?"

"There is no guarantee that there is only one person with Kira's power", L said. "We have to do more research on Yotsuba. We need to uncover who has the power of Kira and how many have it. And we need to act extremely carefully because this is about Kira. Based on everything I know so far, Kira needs to know person's name and face to kill. And there is a possibility that power to kill can also be transferred from one person to another. We must not let Yotsuba figure out that we are investigating them. We will only catch the person when we have enough evidence to proof that the deadly power indeed exists and that the person really used it." Now L's voice got a heavy tone. "Any of you should not take the matters into your own hands or act without my instruction. Is this clear?"

Everyone else nodded with serious faces. L ate the marshmallow that he had been holding in between his fingers.

"So… at first I suggest that –", he started to explain again but then Watari's phone rang and interrupted him.

"Please excuse me", the old gentleman said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and walking to the nearest computer in the room.

Everyone remained silent for a moment. Then Watari came back to the others and spoke to L.

"Matsuda-san sent a distress signal from the Yotsuba Tokyo office", he told with a very serious tone.

"What?" Soichiro Yagami shrieked. "What is Matsuda doing?"

"Has he been uncovered…?" Light asked, remaining calmer than his father. "He'll be killed if so…"

L looked extremely gloomy and jaded. He had just told everyone else that they should not act on their own. And now Matsuda – that freaking idiot – had done the exact opposite. He was supposed to be in the movie shootings with Misa. L had made a huge miscalculation… He had underestimated Matsuda. That idiot had run off from the shootings and gone straight to Yotsuba… And he had now most likely got caught and ruined everything…

"What are we going to do now?" Light asked looking at L. The detective's expression made him worry. "We need to do something to save him, Ryuzaki." Light said that because in his opinion L looked like he had absolutely no intention of saving Matsuda. But they had to do _something _– otherwise Matsuda wouldn't only be killed but also their plan would fail. So if nothing more, at least L probably wanted to help Matsuda out of the trouble so that his master plan and all the effort he had done to catch Kira wouldn't be in vain.

L sighed and scratched his head. "Yes, we need to think a plan…" he said. _Or more likely, _I _need to think a plan._

"Matsuda went to the shootings with Misa today", Light said. "But we don't know if he is in Yotsuba with her or alone."

L nodded. "Is Matsuda-san carrying the identification as Amane's manager, Taro Matsui, with him?"

"Yes, he is", Soichiro Yagami replied. "Why don't we try to call Amane and ask if Matsuda is still with her?"

"Light-kun, please make a call to Misa-san's personal phone", L advised. "She might not be able to use her cell phone since she is in the shootings… But we need to know if Matsuda-san is alone and all right. Yagami-san, please make a call to Matsui's cell phone."

L reached his hand towards Soichiro Yagami so that he would hand his cell phone to the detective.

"What are you planning to do, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro Yagami asked, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Misa's cell phone is turned off", Light announced. He had already tried to make a call. "Just like assumed, Ryuzaki."

L was now holding Soichiro Yagami's cell phone in between his fingers. He was calling Matsuda – a.k.a. Taro Matsui.

Matsuda picked up. L hurried to speak before Matsuda could say anything stupid and with that ruin everything.

"Yo, Matsui! What's up? It's me, Asahi!" he said, without using anything to change his real voice so that Matsuda would recognize him and know that he would be saved. L really hoped that Matsuda would understand to act with him and not to reveal who the caller really was if someone was listening to the conversation.

"Oh, Asahi, it's you…" Matsuda replied after a moment hesitation. He wasn't really convincing actor but at least he had understood to follow L's act.

"Are you in the middle of something important?" L asked. "Sounds like you're alone."

If Matsuda was with someone, then that someone was listening to the conversation between L and Matsuda and tried to keep his presence a secret.

"Yes, I'm alone", Matsuda replied. "And also in the middle of something important…"

"Alright…" L muttered. "I just wanted to invite you to have a party tonight but you seem to be busy… So I won't bother you anymore. Later."

The detective hung up. He turned to talk to the others with him in the room. "So Matsuda-san isn't with Amane anymore", he said. "And he is in trouble."

Everyone seemed to be worried for Matsuda's sake.

"What do we do now, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro Yagami asked.

"Matsuda-san's death would substantiate the suspicion against Yotsuba…" L muttered as if he was talking to himself. "Yotsuba would have no reason to kill him if they didn't have something to hide that Matsuda-san could have possibly discovered…"

"But we can't let him be killed, Ryuzaki!" Light said firmly.

L gave him a gloomy look. Then he took a marshmallow from the bowl and ate it. "There is a possibility that Matsuda-san found out something essential. Light-kun is right. We need to save him but we can't act without a proper plan… If we do act too drastically, Yotsuba will notice us. For now… we can only wait and see."

* * *

**Hmmh... What should I say this time...? Well, first of all, hopefully this chapter didn't turn out to be a huge disappointment... since there doesn't happen anything particular in it - yet again... I mean - if you think about the relationship between Light and L. But Matsuda had to get caught so that the story could go on... I've been working on a plan for the others to save him but I can't promise that they'll carry it out in the next chapter since I don't want to write too long chapters... Or what do you think - are these chapters too long or too short or... just fine?**

**This chapter pretty much emphasizes the fact that L doesn't like Matsuda since he is not very smart (although he is a really good character if you ask me). But he needs to save Matsuda because the others pressure him into it and he also wants to know if Matsuda has discovered something important. And... apparently this chapter emphasizes Light's admiration towards L. He also suddenly realizes that even though L claims to be his friend, he really doesn't know much about him. **

**Gosh, I write so much pointless stuff in here... ;D These are supposed to be some sort of commentaries but I just talk about everything unnecessary... xD Please don't shoot me for that... ^^'**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	12. Chapter 12

A moment later, Light received a call from Misa. He was sitting still next to L who was eating the last marshmallows from the bowl that he was having in front of him. L seemed to be only eating but Light knew that he was also thinking up a plan for saving Matsuda.

Misa told Light that Matsuda had called her just a moment ago and told her to come to the Yotsuba Tokyo office. Yotsuba wanted to meet her because Matsuda had offered Misa to perform in their commercial. Misa sounded extremely excited as she was now discussing it with Light. But Light tried to make her take things a bit more seriously.

"Tell her that she needs to go to Yotsuba", L said to Light who was talking to his cell phone. "She'll do whatever you tell her to do, Light-kun."

Light knew that better than anyone. And, once again, he decided to take advantage of Misa's obedience.

"I've come up with a plan", L said, putting the empty marshmallow bowl away. "First… Misa-san needs to go to the Yotsuba Tokyo office. She needs to ask the employers there to come with her to her apartment – in other words: here – so that we can monitor them via the surveillance cameras and then decide how to save Matsuda-san. My assumption is that they won't do anything to him if they come here with Misa-san…"

"Alright…" Light muttered. He didn't come up with any better plan so L's plan had to do. Light told Misa this plan and also that she needed to be extremely careful. After that he hung up the phone and turned towards L.

"Now we must gather everyone together and prepare the things here…" L muttered and stood up.

* * *

L had so far explained his plan to everyone – including Soichiro Yagami, Mogi and Watari.

"They'll be here soon", the detective said, meaning Matsuda, Misa and the Yotsuba employers. "We will monitor them and I'll have a word with Matsuda-san. If he has discovered something important, then we'll have to do something to guarantee his safety. If he has… and if Kira is among Yotsuba, Matsuda-san will be killed."

The others had extremely serious expressions on their faces as they looked at L. The detective was talking very frankly, even though the truth was unpleasant.

"But you're saying that we _can _guarantee his safety somehow, is that right, Ryuzaki?" Light asked, wanting to be sure.

"Yes, that's right", L replied. "I have a plan for that too. But I really need to talk with Matsuda-san first."

* * *

The eight Yotsuba employers, Matsuda, Misa and a few other models who had been invited from the model agency were gathered in Misa's room. L and the other Task Force members were monitoring them via the surveillance cameras. Everyone in Misa's room seemed to be in a good mood – except Matsuda who was worried about his own safety. He sneaked out of the room, claiming he had to use the toilet.

In the toilet Matsuda wiped his sweating forehead with his hand. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and called L.

"Ryuzaki, you're watching this right now, aren't you?" he asked immediately after L had picked up.

"Yes, I am", L calmly replied. "Are you feeling all right, Matsuda-san?"

Matsuda bit his lip. "No… not really…" he muttered, sounding distressed. "They'll kill me for sure…"

"Matsuda-san, please calm down", L said composedly. "What happened at the Yotsuba Tokyo office?"

"These eight employers were having a meeting to determine Kira's next victims", Matsuda quickly explained. "One of them has to be Kira."

L remained silent for a short moment. Then he asked: "Are you sure about that, Matsuda-san?"

"Definitely", Matsuda replied. "I heard it with my own ears. They were deciding who would be killed next."

"Hmm… Then they'll surely try to kill you", L stated calmly.

"I know that!" Matsuda hissed. "What can I do now?"

"Do not panic, Matsuda-san", L advised. "You'll have our help. I have a plan but in order to carry it out, I need to have your consent. Manager Taro Matsui must die before he is killed. Are you willing to set up your own death, Matsuda-san?"

* * *

Everyone had to play a part in L's master plan to save Matsuda and set up his death. L had explained his plan to Light, Soichiro Yagami, Mogi and Watari. Also Misa knew about the plan – but not all the details since L had first needed to have Matsuda's consent and he hadn't had a chance to talk to Misa after that. To the Yotsuba employers it would seem like Taro Matsui died in an accident.

L had told Soichiro Yagami and Mogi to go to the balcony on the west side of the building. That balcony was below the balcony of Misa's floor. Matsuda was going to fall off the balcony of Misa's room and Mogi and Soichiro Yagami needed to make sure that he wouldn't fall for real all the way down but only to the next floor below.

Light and L were in their own room. L had told Light what their roles were in the plan and they were now preparing themselves.

"So… Light-kun needs to lie down on the street on the west side of the building and play seriously injured", L explained one more time.

Light's role was to play Matsuda who had fallen off the balcony. It wasn't the best role but he didn't complain.

"Make sure that you'll lie in the right place, Light-kun", L said as he looked at Light who was now wearing Matsuda's clothes that were a bit too big for him. But no-one would notice that from the balcony so it didn't matter.

L placed a black wig on Light's head. Light bowed down a little. L started to tuck Light's hair into the wig so that the brunette would look like Matsuda as much as possible. Light stood still. When L was ready and focused his gaze on Light's face, their eyes met. L's both hands were on Light's cheeks. For a moment he couldn't get his eyes off Light's beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes.

"Um… Ryuzaki…" Light mumbled, managing to turn his gaze away. "Shouldn't you get ready now…?"

L nodded, backing off. He was going to play some random person who would call an ambulance for Matsuda – or actually for Light since he was playing injured Matsuda. So L needed a disguise.

"I'll be right back, Light-kun", he said as he went to the bathroom. The two of them were temporarily not handcuffed together.

Light waited in front of the bathroom door while L was disguising himself. Light had no idea what kind of disguise L was going to wear so he was extremely surprised and shocked when L finally came out of the bathroom. For a moment Light was wondering if that person really even was L. And the reason for that doubt was obvious – the detective had dressed _like a woman_. He _looked _like a woman. He _even_ had make-up on…

Light froze to stare at him – and at his outfit. L was wearing tights with a skirt and a blouse. He had a dark brown female wig and also surprisingly high heels. Light wondered how on earth L could walk with those kinds of shoes. If he hadn't known that this really was L, he would have thought that this was a real young woman. The clothes alone wouldn't have fooled Light but the wig and the make-up and _everything_… L's current appearance probably made anyone think that he was a woman.

He had covered the black bags under his eyes with make-up. He even had put lipstick on. He looked like a completely different person. Light also noticed that he didn't stand the way he usually did. His posture was much better. And now that Light thought about it, L would have looked very odd and goofy in that outfit if he had been standing like he usually did.

But now he looked so much like a woman…

"R- Ryuzaki… You…" Light finally managed to mumble. He couldn't say anything reasonable so he decided not to utter any comment about L's outfit.

"What is it, Light-kun? Is there something wrong with this outfit?"L asked staring at Light with his wide, black eyes. "Isn't my disguise convincing enough…?"

"No, you look beautiful", Light hurried to reply. Then he realized what he had said and quickly corrected himself: "No – I mean… fine… You look fine."

L was still staring at him. He ignored Light's changed behavior and his abashed reaction. But thinking about Light's reaction… the detective's disguise seemed to be convincing enough.

"Thank you", he said taking a couple of testing steps with his high heels. "And you look as good as always, Light-kun."

"Thanks…" Light quietly muttered. "But if you're ready… Shall we go then?" he asked, wanting to get away from this awkward situation.

L nodded. He took a few steps closer to Light but then he suddenly turned around towards the bathroom. "Please hold on, Light-kun", he said. "I forgot my handbag…"

"Your… _what_…?"

L rushed into the bathroom and returned with a small handbag.

"Err… Ryuzaki…" Light muttered looking at the handbag. "Aren't you taking this a bit too seriously…?"

"What do you mean, Light-kun?" L asked ignoring the way Light glared at his handbag. "This is to save Matsuda-san. Isn't that a serious matter to you, Light-kun?"

"Of course it is", Light replied immediately. "It's just…" He sighed. Then he raised his gaze at L's face and smiled at him sincerely. "Ryuzaki, I really admire your deep dedication", he said.

"I usually take my job seriously", L reminded. "But thank you for your kind words, Light-kun. Shall we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go", Light replied.

* * *

**Okay, finally more action! ;D So... in the next chapter they'll probably carry out L's plan but in this chapter they only made preparations for it. I had this scene between L and Light in my mind for a long time and now I had a chance to write it... So I wrote it and I hope that it isn't too much out of a character... I guess not since this is a fic and anyone shouldn't take it too seriously. **

**And for those who have waited for the next chapter of Destination Departure: I'm sorry for that I haven't updated it for a long time. But right now this fic seems to be more popular than DD so I've been concentrating on this. And recently I've come up with ideas for this fic only. But I will update DD once I finish the next chapter of it. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully you are, as well. (:**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	13. Chapter 13

"Let's wait here and keep an eye on the situation", L said to Light who was standing next to him outside in the silent alley. "We can see Misa-san's balcony from here. When Matsuda-san falls off, you need to take your place, Light-kun. You know what to do, correct?"

Light looked up at the balcony and replied: "Yes, I know. It's not difficult to lie still."

"Yes, with your outstanding acting skills it'll be easy", L said, combing his long hair – or the female wig actually – with his fingers.

Light wanted to thank L for the compliment but he remained silent. He wondered if that had actually been a compliment at all. Perhaps L had just implied that Light was Kira but impressively fooled everyone else with his great acting skills.

"Ryuzaki… May I ask something?"

L turned his dapper face towards Light. "Why so suddenly, Light-kun?" he asked. "I trust your discretion. It's probably something essential since you want to ask about it right now."

Light lowered his gaze and hesitated for a moment. Then he raised his gaze up again and asked: "Why did you choose to wear that kind of disguise?"

L tilted his head and his long, curled hair swayed. He blinked his long-lashed eyes. His pale face looked surprisingly delicate and feminine with all the make-up on. The long hair framed his face perfectly. "This outfit seems to agitate you, Light-kun", he said, studying Light's face with his curious eyes.

Light tried to avoid his gaze. L really had managed to surprise him with his impressive disguising skills. "Yes… a bit…" Light reluctantly admitted. "You just look so different…"

"But isn't that the very purpose of a disguise?" L asked, frowning a little.

Light uttered a silent laughter. "Yes, it is", he said. "You're right, Ryuzaki."

They both fell silent. They stood side by side and kept an eye on Misa's balcony. Soon things started to roll on.

Matsuda's figure appeared on the balcony. L and Light saw him scrambling on the balcony railing. It looked very dangerous and Light bet Matsuda was scared and extremely nervous at the moment. Then he fell. L and Light could hear others' worried screams from Misa's room.

"Oh my, he fell!" someone shouted.

Light didn't have time to watch if Matsuda had successfully landed on the balcony below. He rushed to the spot that Matsuda would have crushed if he really had fallen all the way down. Light lay there on his stomach in a silly looking position with his arms and legs placed into weird angles. Hopefully he looked convincing enough.

Then he heard the sound of L's high heels coming towards him from the alley.

"Oh my God! A man has fallen off the balcony!" someone cried nearby. It sounded like a woman but Light saw from the corner of his eye that the screamer was L.

Light was astounded. _He… he sounds like a woman…_

"Oh my God…" L breathed, still speaking with a high tone so that he would sound like a real woman. "I need to call an ambulance…"

He took a cell phone out of his handbag and called Watari. He explained the situation as if this had been a real emergency. Watari knew the plan. It was now time for him to drive to L and Light with an ambulance.

L crouched to Light who was still lying on the ground.

"Watari will be here soon", he told with the normal tone of his voice. "You're doing well, Light-kun."

After a couple of minutes an ambulance arrived. Soichiro Yagami and Mogi, dressed as paramedics, came out of it and took Light to the ambulance with a stretcher. L went with him. Then they all drove away.

* * *

They arrived back to the headquarters as Matsuda called them and announced that the Yotsuba employers had left the building, believing that Matsuda had died. The models from Misa's agency had also left. Matsuda and Misa were now cleaning up the places and Matsuda was awfully relieved.

L gained lots of glances from Mogi and Soichiro Yagami who also hadn't known that L would be wearing woman's clothes. But they knew it was him, not just some woman.

Back at the headquarters everyone - including Misa – gathered together in the monitoring room.

"Ryuzaki told me that I'd be your new manager", Mogi said to Misa.

Misa crossed her arms. "But I don't want you to become my manager", she refused. "And where is Ryuzaki anyway? And who is that woman next to Light?"

Everyone exchanged glances with each other and then they all ended up looking at L.

"Misa, this is just Ryuzaki in a disguise", Light explained when anyone else didn't speak anything.

"What?" Misa shrieked, still looking at L. "Impossible! That _can't_ _possibly_ be Ryuzaki! She doesn't remind him at all… But Light wouldn't lie to Misa…" Misa looked like she didn't know what to think or believe.

L walked to her with his high heels. "It's true, Misa-san", he said with his own voice that revealed it really was him in a disguise.

Misa's eyes widened. "But you look _so different_!" she said taking L's wig off. "But it clearly is you, Ryuzaki." Then she smiled at him. "Why are you dressed like that?" She handed the wig back to L.

"Just like Light-kun said – this is a disguise", the detective replied.

"And I thought I had a reason to be jealous", Misa said carelessly, seeming to be talking to herself. "But it was just Ryuzaki after all… I knew Light wouldn't date other women… You really managed to fool me, Ryuzaki. That's a very good disguise!"

L bowed his head a little. "But if we were in a beauty contest, I'd never beat you, Misa-san", he said.

Misa's eyes started to glisten. "You heard that, Light?" she asked with a giggle, seeming to be very happy. "Oh, Ryuzaki, that's so sweet thing to say!" She wrapped her arms around L's skinny body and hugged him.

* * *

"And you said you're not good with ladies", Light said to L as the two of them were in their own room again. "You're really starting to learn how to handle Misa…"

Light gave L an amused smile which L didn't respond to. They had already changed their clothes and L had removed his make-up. They were handcuffed together again.

"Your plan succeeded well, Ryuzaki", Light stated. "It was a thoughtful plan."

"Thank you, Light-kun", L replied absentmindedly, eating a donut with strawberry frosting on it. The detective's lips were completely covered in the strawberry frosting and Light was wondering how L could possibly eat so that the frosting spread all over his cheeks.

Light was lying on their bed. He had crossed his arms under his head and looked at L who was sitting next to him on the bed – as usual.

"You played your role well, Light-kun", L said to him, cramming the last piece of donut into his mouth.

Light smiled at him again. It felt good to see Ryuzaki wearing his own clothes and not having make-up on. And Light was also happy to wear his own clothes again. Matsuda's clothes had been too big for him.

"What are we going to do with the information Matsuda managed to gain?" he asked after a moment of silence. "Kira is among Yotsuba."

L nodded slowly. "We are going to discuss about that tomorrow", he said licking his lips to get the frosting off, pretty unsuccessfully.

Light rose up to the sitting position. "Hold on", he said. "Let me help you."

L was still having some frosting on his cheek. Light wiped it away with a touch of his forefinger.

L gripped his wrist. He tucked his tongue out of his mouth and quickly licked the frosting off Light's forefinger. Light froze to stare at him. L didn't let go of his hand.

Then their eyes met.

L pulled Light closer, without breaking the eye contact, and put his free hand on the brunette's cheek.

Light didn't know what got into him but he really wanted to try something. He gripped the hair on the back of L's head with his free hand and pressed his lips tentatively against L's. L didn't resist. He responded to the kiss daringly, letting go of Light's wrist and placing his both hands on the brunette's cheeks.

Light didn't remember much of it afterwards since he suddenly started to feel so dizzy. His head was spinning and his heart was beating faster than usually. He could still taste the strawberry frosting on L's lips. He never imagined that kissing L – who wasn't even attractive looking – would feel so good. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on his back on the bed and L was on top of him.

L kissed him ravenously. Light kissed him vehemently back. He didn't know if L had ever kissed anyone before this. He guessed not since L hadn't even had any friends before him. But Light got to admit that L was a brilliant kisser. He hadn't ever imagined that someday he would happen to think something like that. He had lost the track of his thoughts. He couldn't think of anything reasonable… He had completely lost himself for this feeling… and for L… Light always wanted to possess the situation and everyone around him. But now he couldn't even control himself and it felt very confusing…

L felt something strange. He couldn't name the feeling because he hadn't felt like this ever before. Light was the one who made him feel like this… Light's lips felt so soft and smooth…Kissing him felt so good… Light's scent was everywhere – Light was _everywhere_.

He started to unbutton Light's shirt. All of the sudden the reality smashed into Light's consciousness like a lightning strike. He was _making out _with the world's best detective! He was… Yes, he was _making out_ with his friend, Ryuzaki… And they were soon about to –

Light pushed L quickly away. He turned his gaze away from the detective.

"We shouldn't be doing this, Ryuzaki…" he muttered with a low voice. "I apologize… I really shouldn't have…"

_…kissed you. _But Light couldn't say that out loud.

L wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He was staring at Light who was still lying on the bed under him. He rose up and sat down next to the brunette.

"It's all right, Light-kun", he said. "I apologize too. You obviously didn't want to go that far…"

Light buttoned his shirt back up. He was avoiding L's gaze. Had L wanted to go _that far_…? And what did he mean by that anyway…? Light had no idea why he had kissed L. The detective had provoked him… Yes, that was it. It was all L's fault.

"Anyway…" he said, now facing L's gaze. "We should forget about that. It was nothing… Really… Just an accident."

L glared at him with a face that Light couldn't construe. The brunette made it look like he was going to sleep now so that L wouldn't talk to him anymore.

"Don't worry, Light-kun…" L muttered with a snide tone in his voice. "Accidents happen…"

* * *

**I'm back with the 13th chapter! ;D Hopefully this chapter didn't let anyone down... But this time I can't say that nothing happened between L and Light. ;D Since something did happen and it won't be forgotten so easily... **

**So... About this scene in the end of this chapter... I really struggled a long time with it and I hestitated with adding it since I thought it might be just too much... Originally, this was supposed to be a fic about friendship and yeah, perhaps a bit of something more... ;D But it wasn't supposed to go like this... Not this far... ;D But it did. And I can only hope that you liked it... And if you didn't... too bad then... But please don't shoot me... ^^' **

**The truth is that I failed to keep them just as friends. But I was expecting that from myself anyway... xD So to me it was only a matter of time.**

**~ CherrySugarCube  
**


	14. Chapter 14

The following morning was quite unpleasant. Neither Light nor L enjoyed the daily routines a slightest bit. Light washed himself and got dressed as quickly as possible. He didn't spend much time in front of the mirror like he usually did. He didn't talk anything to L. He didn't even look him into the eyes. He didn't want to be chained to that pervert. It was more unpleasant than ever before. He didn't remember much of last night. But he did remember the kiss. What had he been thinking?

_No… I didn't do anything... He provoked me. Yes, that damn pervert tried to…_

To what…? What had L been trying…?

_Perhaps it had something do with his suspicion toward me… _But Light had no idea how kissing him would increase or decrease L's suspicions. Even so, the case was pretty clear. Light had been a victim. Yes, L was older than him so the only way to see the situation was that L had provoked himand tried to take advantage of him… And Light didn't know what to think of that.

But he decided to forget about it. He had told L to forget about it. So why was _he_ thinking of it now then…?

* * *

Matsuda was whining about the small size of the announcement of his death that was on today's paper. L ignored that idiot but Light tried to cheer him up. He said that Matsuda was safe now since Yotsuba thought he was dead. But thanks to Matsuda's stupidity, L was now having only eight suspects, the eight Yotsuba employers. And he had come up with a plan how to investigate them closely.

The three of them were with Soichiro Yagami and Mogi in the monitoring room.

"I will have Watari break through the security of the Yotsuba building", L told them. "The eight of them will have their next meeting on Friday. If everything goes well, we should be able to monitor the meeting."

Everyone was in a better mood. Uncovering Kira's identity and catching him was only a matter of time. The difficult case would soon be solved. But L and Light knew – better than anyone – that the case wouldn't be solved with just that. They both believed that this was a new Kira, different from the first one. And the original Kira should be caught as well.

Matsuda seemed to be very proud of himself – thus he seemed to be the only one who was. L wasn't in a good mood at all. It was true that Matsuda had, for once, been helpful. But he didn't want to admit that. Matsuda had a right to be proud of himself but it somehow still irritated L. He was glaring at Light from the corner of his eye. The brunette's behavior was bothering him…

Light acted like nothing had ever happened between the two of them. But something _had_, and it clearly bothered Light too since he was completely ignoring L today. L didn't know what had actually happened between him and Light. He didn't know what the feeling was that he felt toward Light. But L missed him. He longed for the proximity of Light's – in mentally and physically. He wanted to know what Light was thinking at this exact moment. He wanted to be held by Light's strong, caring arms... He wanted to feel Light's soft lips against his own again…

No-one had ever been that close to L before. L was very suspicious of Light but he had never let his guard down like he had done with Light yesterday. No-one had ever made him feel like Light had... Having Light close to him… Just a thought of it made him feel thrills.

If only Light had glanced at him with those beautiful, enchanting eyes of his again… And his smile… There were no words to describe it.

But Light wasn't smiling. He was avoiding L's gaze and talking to his father. Soichiro Yagami was praising his dearly beloved son. Matsuda went along with that but Mogi remained silent, as usual. And so did L.

"Eraldo Coil will accept Yotsuba's offer", he said after being quiet for a moment. "He will take the job that they hired him for: uncover L's identity. That is how we will get closer to Yotsuba. And if Watari succeeds, we will be able to monitor their next meeting on Friday."

"And then we'll definitely catch Kira!" Matsuda said confidently.

"That's right", said Light. After catching Kira he wouldn't have to be handcuffed to L anymore… But that didn't mean that he wouldn't help to catch the original Kira as well. Kira had to pay for the things he had made Light and his family go through. That was certain.

"What is the matter with you, Light-kun?" L asked as they were sitting on a couch in the monitoring room, having coffee together.

Light hadn't said a single word to L during this time. He sipped his tea, remaining silent. L was eating chocolate cookies next to him. Light tried to sit as far from him as possible – which wasn't that far since they were handcuffed together.

_What is the matter with me, huh? _Light glared at L from the corner of his eye. _As if you didn't know… Ryuzaki... You're good at playing stupid. But I know what you're up to._

"You haven't said anything to me today and it's already half past three", L remarked, sipping his coffee and adding one more sugar cube in it.

"I know what the time is", Light replied dryly. "And did you happen to consider the fact that I might have nothing to say?"

L seemed to ignore Light's cheeky way of speaking. "That's odd…" he said, biting the nail of his thumb. "…since Light-kun usually talks a lot."

"Well, perhaps I'm not in the talking mood today", Light stated briefly.

"That's quite odd too", L said, looking closer at the cookie that he was holding in between his fingers at the moment, "since Light-kun has talked to everyone else here excluding me."

_Smart thinking, Ryuzaki… I'm impressed_. Light sipped his coffee again, wanting to spend some time alone. He watched carefully what he said so that he wouldn't blurt out anything that would have insulted Ryuzaki. He didn't want to fight with him. He just wanted him to be quiet. He still considered Ryuzaki as his friend. But at the moment he was mad at him.

"You haven't talked to me since yesterday", L kept on talking, cramming a couple of chocolate cookies into his mouth.

Light became tense. He didn't want to talk about this issue. "This isn't the right place to discuss about that", he said, lowering the volume of his voice and leering at Soichiro Yagami, Matsuda and Mogi who were in the opposite corner of the large room. He would never be able to face his father's gaze again if his father knew about the events of last night – what his dearly beloved son had been doing with L who was actually Soichiro Yagami's colleague just like Matsuda or Mogi…

Light winced. No… that was a _completely_ different thing! He would have _never_ done _anything _like that with Matsuda or Mogi! Light wasn't that kind of guy…

But about L… there was just something different…

L looked at the same direction as Light did. "I see", he said. He didn't want to embarrass or humiliate Light in front of everyone. He knew that it would be wise to keep this thing a secret.

"Then let's go somewhere else to talk", he said and plucked Light with him, leaving his coffee there on the table and grabbing a few cookies with him.

* * *

"How about a cookie?" the detective suggested, handing one towards Light as they were in their own room.

"No thank you", Light replied tensely. L could keep his cookies. He wouldn't feel happy to give one to Light anyway…

L shrugged and ate the rest of the cookies that he was carrying with him. "So…" he mumbled with his mouth full of them. "If you're mad at me because of what happened yesterday – "

"Ryuzaki", Light interrupted him and put his hand on L's shoulder.

L fell silent. He stared at Light's serious face with his wide eyes.

"About what happened yesterday…" the brunette said, trying to avoid L's distracting gaze. "It was nothing. Really, why can't we just forget about that already? I was just…"Light bit his lip, not knowing what to say. "I don't know", he admitted. "Perhaps I was just tired and too stressed out … But it meant _nothing_, really. I want to be your friend, Ryuzaki. So let's forget about this already, ok?"

"Very well, Light-kun", L replied. "The priority is to catch Kira. And I could use your help – assuming that you are still willing to help me…"

"Of course I am", Light said, shaking L casually from the shoulder. An enthusiastic smile had appeared on the brunette's face again. "We'll catch Kira – together. That's a promise."

L didn't know if he should have smiled back at Light. He seemed to be a bit unsure. He was still looking at the brunette's face.

"By the way, Ryuzaki…" Light suddenly said and his smile faded a little. He faced L's gaze. "You're having some chocolate on your face."

This time Light didn't wipe it away. But he still couldn't help himself pointing it out. L wiped his face with his hand and glanced at Light briefly.

"That's better", the brunette said to him, patting his shoulder. "Are we cool now then?"

L gave Light a strange look. Light didn't understand the meaning of it. But L seemed to be hesitating for a second.

"Yes, I think we are", the detective then replied and lightly touched the brunette's hand with his fingers.

Light startled. L noticed that and decided to let Light's hand be.

"Let's go back to the others, shall we, Light-kun?" he asked with his perfectly monotonic tone.

Light suddenly had a strange hollow feeling. But he nodded. "Right."

* * *

**Boring chapter, isn't it...? Yet again... I apologize. ^^' But YET AGAIN these things needed to happen at this point... Light and L needed to make up so that they could continue working with each other. **

**I started to think that maybe these chapters are a bit too short... Or... perhaps it just feels like it since there didn't happen anything particular in this chapter - yet again... ;D  
I can write longer chapters if that's necessary... But what do you think? I just started to think that if someone waits for the update to this fic for a pretty long time and then I finally update and the chapter turns out to be extremely short and boring... ;DD And how terrible is that...  
So if these chapters are too short (or too long - I doubt that ;D ) then please tell me. Let's see if I can do something about it...  
**

**And I apologize for not updating for a while. I've been really busy (huh, such a lame excuse...) with school and stuff like that... But thanks for the awesome reviews! (: I'm always glad to read them. Looking forward to the next chapter. ;3**

**~ CherrySugarCube  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Next Friday fulfilled L's expectations. Watari had carried out his plan and they were now monitoring the meeting of the Yotsuba employers.

But there were only seven of them. L was quite convinced about that they had killed one of their own men. Yes, it was crystal clear. If anyone tried to leave the meetings, he would be killed by Kira.

The seven employers started to talk about the information that L had sent them as Eraldo Coil who had agreed to help them uncover L's identity. One of them – the name was Higuchi – even mentioned that L had no way of knowing that Kira could kill in ways other than just heart attacks. But that actually was something L already knew.

One of the seven suggested that Kira should reveal himself to the others. The other employers, however, didn't agree with that because then Kira would dictate everyone else and use his power over the others. For now they were all equal. Nobody knew who Kira was. But they appeared to have some kind of rules of killing…

_So Kira can kill without using a heart attack as a cause of death… But there are rules of killing…? Figuring them out would be a big help with the investigation… But I can definitely find them out by catching the current Kira now that I know he is connected to Yotsuba… _L licked his strawberry ice cream and looked at the monitor with his curious, black eyes.

"This is as good confession as any", Matsuda said. "Couldn't we use this video as evidence against Yotsuba?"

_No, stupid Matsuda. That would ruin everything… _L continued licking his ice cream, deciding to leave Matsuda's question without a reply.

"That's right! Won't we be able to arrest them with this video?" Soichiro Yagami said, going along with Matsuda.

_No… this isn't going well… _L bit his lip. He didn't want to arrest all of the Yotsuba employers. He wanted to catch Kira. He had to know how Kira killed people. He wanted to catch Kira in action so that he would see how he did the killings…

The seven Yotsuba employers decided to decrease the amount of the victims so that only few would die in a month. Then they started to talk about the people they should kill next. They decided to kill them with accidents and after that they calmly discussed about the pace of the deaths.

Matsuda, Mogi, Soichiro Yagami and his son Light all stared at the monitors with shocked expressions. They had done progress with the investigation but this was upsetting them. L wasn't upset. He had been dealing with psychopathic and dangerous killers before. He had seen so many nasty things during his career – no, life more likely. Yotsuba wasn't the worst. But Kira was really something… a considerable opponent.

"Ryuzaki", Light said, interrupting L's thoughts. "We did it! This proves it! There's no doubt – one of them is Kira and we can use this video as evidence – "

"No, unfortunately not", L said, interrupting Light's enthusiastic statement. The detective licked his ice cream calmly. "We cannot say 'there's no doubt' until the people they mentioned die. I'm sure you all understand that."

Light did understand that but didn't want to go along with it. It wasn't right thing to do.

"Ryuzaki, don't tell me you want to wait to see if they really die…" he said to the man who was sitting next to him on a chair.

"That would prove them to be guilty", L stated briefly, licking his ice cream lazily.

"We _can't_ do that!" Light immediately disagreed.

"Yes, Ryuzaki", Soichiro Yagami said. "We can't let them be killed."

L glared at the father and son from the corner of his eye. His expression was gloomy. _I knew this would happen…_

"I didn't say that we should let them be killed", he said monotonously. "But it would prove Yotsuba's guilty… "

"So what are you planning to do?" Light asked. In his opinion it would be very much like L to use this kind of method with an investigation. "Letting them be killed is out of the question. We can't work like that. They aren't criminals so we can't just let them be killed… Yotsuba is clearly behind this and this video should be enough to prove it."

L looked at Light with a curious face. "They aren't criminals, you say…" he muttered. "So Light-kun thinks that it's okay to kill criminals then?"

"No, I didn't mean that!" Light immediately replied. He hadn't realized that he had talked like that… That was something Kira would have said… He hadn't meant it like that. "Look, Ryuzaki", he said, managing to remain perfectly calm. "I just wanted to remind you of the fact that they're humans too. We can't let them be killed. They've done nothing wrong."

L didn't have time to reply since his and everyone else's attention was caught by the seven Yotsuba employers who now decided to kill their next victim within a couple of days.

"Oh, no… This is too bad…" Soichiro Yagami muttered in panic. "We need to do something to stop them!"

"You're right, chief", Matsuda said. "But what can we do?"

Everyone turned to L who had frozen in his position, tongue tucked out of his mouth, its tip almost touching the ice cream. L glared at everyone else from the corner of his eye.

"Your suggestion probably is to wait and gain more evidence isn't that right, Ryuzaki?" Light asked gloomily.

L closed his mouth without licking the ice cream. "Evidence definitely exists", he replied with a serious tone.

"Please, Ryuzaki, try to be reasonable", Light said. "We can't let them kill people just like that."

L looked at his ice cream gloomily. He seemed to be sulking. He looked like a child who had just been reproached.

"You are right… Saving lives is the most important thing…" he muttered. His face and the tone of his voice told everyone that he strongly disagreed with the things he said.

"Ryuzaki, we should call them and stop them", Soichiro Yagami said, trying to make L stop sulking so that he detective would come up with a plan.

"Calling them would reveal that we are on them", L remarked.

"But what choice do we have?" Soichiro Yagami asked. "We can't let them kill anyone."

"Ryuzaki", Light said. "Can I try something?"

L raised his gaze up at Light.

"If I may borrow the name L, I could call them and stop them", Light said. "Based on the conversation we just heard, the one who likely isn't Kira but has a good amount of influence is the person named Namikawa." Light looked at the screen, determined expression on his face. "I would like to call him", he said.

L wasn't sure what Light was up to but he decided to let him try. "Light-kun can use this phone here", the detective said. "It can't be traced." L nodded towards the phone on the desk in front of him.

Light carried out the plan he had just came up with. When Namikawa picked up, the brunette hurried to speak first. He told Namikawa to listen closely, without making any scene, so that it would look like this was just an ordinary conversation with some of his men. Then Light introduced himself as L. Fortunately Namikawa was smart enough not to react too distinctively. But Light shocked him more, telling him that they were monitoring the Yotsuba meeting and knew about their plans. Namikawa remained calm even though he seemed to be a little bit astonished and confused.

"If you are not Kira or someone who can speak directly to Kira, I suggest that we make a deal", Light said. "I want you to delay the next killings one month. If you agree to cooperate with us in the future, all of you who are not Kira, will not be charged with any crime. If you agree to cooperate, you will all walk free from this. If you won't, you will all be captured. Is this clear? Do we have a deal?"

Namikawa agreed after a short pause. Light hung up the phone. He, L, Matsuda, Mogi and Soichiro Yagami all watched the meeting going on. Namikawa casually suggested delaying of the next killings. It was amazing how easily everyone else agreed with Namikawa's convincing reasoning. The seven of them decided to delay the next killings.

"Light-kun, that sure was very impressive", L said, staring at the huge screen in front of him. The strawberry ice cream was melting in his hand. "That was something I would have done", the detective said. "But you came up with it before I did…" He looked at his ice cream and his hand that the ice cream had melted on. He said: "If I die, you could become a great successor to the name L, Light-kun."

Light blinked his brown Bambi-eyes. "What are you saying?" he asked, not seeming to be happy to hear such a thing. He didn't like Ryuzaki talking about his own death.

"No, I really mean it", L said. "It was _you_ who noticed that Yotsuba was connected to Kira, Light-kun. At this rate it seems that you are more capable than I am…"

It had really been bugging L for a while. Light was very impressive. It was pretty much because of him why they were so close to catching Kira right now… But Light was his main suspect… L just couldn't let go of the theory that Light had been Kira. And at the same time Light was making great progress with the investigation…

"If I die, would you take over for me, Light-kun?" L asked directly, facing Light's surprised gaze. _If you are Kira and just acting right now, you will definitely say yes._

But Light didn't reply directly to the question. "Don't say that, Ryuzaki", he said. "As long as we are handcuffed together we also die together, right?" He fell silent when L didn't say anything.

"Oh… I get it…" he then muttered. "You believe that I am Kira and just acting right now. No… more likely… you believe that I _was_ Kira but transferred the deadly power to another person and lost all the memories of being Kira. And you think that I've set things up so that the power will eventually return to me. You think I'm not controlled by Kira or acting anything but made a plan to pass the deadly power to someone else and then gain it back when I'm no longer a suspect. Isn't that right, Ryuzaki?"

It was a big shock to everyone else except Light and L when L simply admitted that Light had known exactly what he had been thinking.  
"That is correct", the detective said. "Being L and Kira at the same time… That's the ultimate position. Light-kun, if you were Kira, wouldn't you try to get into that position?"

Light didn't reply to that question. "So you still think that I'm Kira but I just have lost all my memories of doing the killings…" he said.

"Yes", L replied. "You weren't controlled by Kira because you didn't die. And you aren't doing to current killings… You aren't the current Kira. But you _were_… until you transferred the power and lost all of the memories. Everything in that theory would make sense… Also that why you are doing so much progress with the investigation…"

Light wasn't going to listen to this anymore. He couldn't stand L accusing him like this. "Ryuzaki, you _want_ me to be Kira", he said. "Just admit it. You are sulking because you haven't done much progress with the investigation since you're blinded by your irrational theory of me being Kira. You _want _me to be Kira."

L looked away from Light. His ice cream had almost completely melted in his hand. He didn't seem to feel any desire to eat it.

"Yes", he admitted. "I wanted Light-kun to be Kira because that would have solved the case. It made sense in the beginning… I just needed some evidence… It isn't enough if I just say so." He turned to look at Light over his shoulder. "But I really don't want you to be Kira, Light-kun. Not anymore. You being Kira would solve the case… But I don't want you to be a murderer. Light-kun is a very dear friend of mine. I don't want him to be my enemy."

Once again Light had been angry with L. But now all of the anger was gone. He felt only confusion. Did L just really say that…? Did he mean it…? Well, probably not… But he had still said it in front of everyone.

"I'm really glad to be your friend, Ryuzaki", Light said to L. "I just can't remember doing any of the killings. I simply don't have such memories. How could I ever kill so many people without even knowing about it…?"

"We don't know how Kira kills so it's difficult to say…" L replied. "But I'm not giving up with my theory. I don't have enough evidence to prove Light-kun and Misa-san being guilty but there is still some evidence against the two of you…" The detective kept a short pause and then said: "However, let's not talk about that now. We only have a month."

Everyone else seemed to be relieved when L let that issue be and was willing to concentrate on the current Kira again.

"So… would the killings of criminals stop if we used this video tape as evidence against the Yotsuba employers?" Soichiro Yagami asked.

"No, unfortunately not", L replied. "We can't even be sure if Kira is among Yotsuba so if we capture the seven of them, we might only cause death to them. If Kira wasn't among them, they would be all killed by Kira. So we can't capture them. We need more time…"

"But we can't get it", Light reminded. "We can't wait."

"That's right", Soichiro Yagami said. "The killings might stop if we capture the seven of them…"

"Yes, but not necessarily", L said. "I'm definitely against capturing them." He ate the rest of the melted ice cream astonishingly quickly and then licked all of his fingers. "I want to catch _Kira_. That is my goal. Capturing the seven of them is meaningless."

The black-haired man stood up from his chair and put his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Please excuse me now. I have something to do…" he said and slouched away, plucking Light with him.

* * *

**Yay, I'm finally back! ^^**

**Phew...! A couple of last weeks have been awfully exhausting... I deeply apologize for not publishing this chapter earlier. I've been so busy that it's almost crazy... Really, all this work is driving me nuts... I'm probably soon about to have a nervous breakdown... Well, hopefully not... ;D But honestly, I've been so busy that I couldn't possibly write this chapter any earlier. Fortunately I somehow managed to finish it today and even put it here... Well, I _had to_ since it's L's birthday. I didn't have time to write anything better but let's say that this chapter is to celebrate the big event. ;D My original plan was to publish some more stuff with this chapter but I didn't manage to finish it on time... But I will put it in the next chapter or the chapter that'll be following the next one... **

**Anyway, my goal is to update sooner next time. Hopefully I manage to do so. **

**Looking forward to it. (:**

**~ CherrySugarCube**


	16. Chapter 16

"Ryuzaki, where are you going?" Light asked, rushing after L.

"To Misa Amane's room", L replied, stopping so suddenly that Light almost rammed against him. L had now reached his destination. He walked in Misa's room, without knocking or giving any other warning before entering the girl's room.

"Ryuzaki, what are _you_ doing here…?" Misa asked. She seemed to be surprised because of L's sudden visit. Then she saw Light coming after the detective and jumped off the couch she had been sitting on and ran to Light, wrapping her arms around him.

"Light! So good to see you!" She buried her face in Light's shirt, hugging the brunette tightly.

"Excuse me, Misa-san", L said, stepping closer to Misa, trying to make the girl notice him too.

"Do you love Light-kun?" the detective asked.

Misa turned his head towards L, seeming to be confused because of the sudden question. "Of course I do", she then replied. "Very, _very _much…" She smiled at Light who hesitated to smile back.

"But Misa-san admires Kira, too, correct?" L continued ignoring the fact that Light didn't seem to be happy to be squeezed to death by loving Misa Amane.

"Yes, I do", Misa replied. The girl didn't understand what Ryuzaki was trying to say or figure out with those odd questions of his.

"Then… Which do you like more, Light-kun or Kira?" L asked.

Misa gripped Light even more tightly. "Of course I like Light more!" she said, giving Light another loving and admiring smile. "I'm very grateful to Kira but it isn't love that I feel for him. Light is the one I _love_."

L tilted his head, seeming to be thinking about Misa's words. Light seemed to feel uneasy and not just because Misa hugged him too tightly. Misa confessed her love for him pretty often but hearing it always made Light feel uncomfortable since he couldn't claim he loved her back.

"Light-kun wants to catch Kira", L said. "Isn't that right, Light-kun?"

Light nodded tensely.

"What do you think about that, Misa-san?" L asked. "You admire Kira but love Light-kun. And Light-kun wants to catch Kira. How does it make you feel?"

"I don't mind if Light wants to catch Kira", Misa replied.

L stared at Misa curiously. "In that case… If you could help Light-kun, would you like to join the investigation to assist him?" he asked.

Light didn't like this. L was obviously trying to involve Misa in the Kira investigation. And being a part of the investigation was too dangerous – especially for a girl like Misa.

"Of course I would!" Misa replied enthusiastically. "I would do anything to help Light!"

"Sounds good", L stated.

"Wait a second, Ryuzaki", Light said, trying to make L slow down a bit. "What are you doing? Misa has nothing to do with this…"

"Don't worry about this, Light-kun", L replied. "I'm just investigating. I don't have much time and I'm starting to get desperate…"

"Desperate or not, you can't involve Misa in this", Light said. "It's too dangerous."

"Oh, Light, you don't need to worry for my sake…" Misa said to Light. Her voice had gotten an awfully sweet tone.

L ignored Misa's words and Light's arguments and said: "I will contact the Yotsuba employers as Eraldo Coil and tell them that I found out about Misa Amane's connection to L. That Amane may know L. Thanks to Matsuda-san's screw up they already know Misa-san and consider using her in their commercial anyway… Misa-san admires Kira and came to Tokyo right before the second Kira appeared. There would be nothing suspicious in Eraldo Coil being able to uncover these facts. Then I will also tell them as Eraldo Coil that Misa Amane was arrested on suspicion of being the second Kira and later released and paid off to keep the whole thing a secret. The seven of them will believe it if it comes from Coil. So they will definitely want to hire Misa-san for a commercial because they think she might know L's identity. Then all Misa-san has to do is to 'accidentally' reveal her admiration for Kira… This shouldn't be too hard for you, Misa-san since you happen to be such a brilliant actress."

A smile appeared on Misa's face again. "Sounds like fun", she said. "I'm sure I can do it."

"Misa, you shouldn't", Light warned her.

"Don't worry, Light", Misa said carelessly. "I can do it. Ryuzaki thinks I can do it. Don't you think I could?"

"It's not because of that, Misa…" Light said, sighing. "You don't understand. It's just too dangerous." Light turned to L. "Ryuzaki, get serious about this. Yotsuba could control Misa's actions and then kill her. Kira can do that and you know it."

"Light-kun means that Yotsuba could make her reveal things about L and then kill her?" L asked.

Light nodded.

L turned to Misa. "Misa-san, who do you think L is?" he asked.

"Umm… The person in the computer screen with the letter L", Misa replied after a couple of seconds.

"And who am I?" L asked, pointing at himself.

"I only know you as Ryuzaki", Misa replied. "You are a friend of Light's."

L nodded. "That is correct." Then he turned to Light. "See, Light-kun? She doesn't know anything about L. How could she reveal anything?"

Light didn't reply. He was still against this but there was nothing he could do. He wanted to catch Kira just as much as L did…

"Don't worry, Light", Misa babbled, smiling confidently. "I'll do it. I know I can. I'd do anything to help you and make you love me."

Hearing that didn't make Light any happier. It had been a sly move from L to take advantage of Misa's will to help him. However, unfortunately there was nothing Light could do about it.

"Good", L stated. "Now we only have to talk about this with the other members of the investigation team."

* * *

**Yay, this time I managed to update sooner. (: All those reviews I got... they really helped me. I kinda wanted to finish the next chapter faster... ;D So thank you all who have been reading this fic and posting reviews. (: I'm really glad to read your comments.**

**A special thanks, however, goes to Mary Lou who posted so many reviews and commented almost every chapter of this story. And since they were anonymous reviews, I couldn't reply to them. So I decided to say something about them here. First of all... I'm glad to hear that someone likes this story... ;D I'll try to keep this fic interesting if that's what it has been so far...  
And... about those words I decided to use in this fic but that were said to be pretty bad choices to pick... Well, let me say something to defend myself... ;D I'm a Finn and my native language naturally is Finnish. English is a foreign language that I study. I confess that I use dictionary pretty much when I write stories in English. I just know some word in Finnish and want to put it in my fic in English, check it from the dictionary and so on... But as you all know, sometimes I make very bad choises with those words that I find from a dictionary... Since with a foreign language you can't always know if it's okay to use some word in a specific situation... Yeah, I guess this pretty much explains if there are some weird words in my texts... ;D And I also deeply apologize for all the grammar errors that you can find in my texts. I hope that they don't make reading and understanding too difficult...  
But anyway, I was really amazed by Mary Lou who managed to discover most of the things I wished the readers to understand about the characters and the events of this story... I want to thank for all those supportive compliments. (:**

**And then one more thing... The latest chapters of this story were said to be getting shorter. This one is pretty short too but the next one will be longer. Hope you'll enjoy it and hope you liked this one as well. (:**

**~ CherrySugarCube  
**


	17. Chapter 17

L liked Light.

In his opinion Light was not only handsome and polite but also truly intelligent and a deep person whom L could have a proper, serious conversation with, a conversation that gratified both of them. Even for L, who was an extremely intelligent and talented person, it was easy to adore Light. Light was perfectly aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. He took advantage of his strengths and the weaknesses he covered excellently. He was a strong and determined personality. Light was fascinating – in many ways – and L really wanted to get to know him. He wanted Light to be his friend, even though he still believed that he could be Kira.

"Ryuzaki?"

L returned to the present from his thoughts and turned to Light who had been calling his alias for several times. "Yes, Light-kun?"

"Is something wrong with you?" Light asked. "Didn't you hear me talking to you?"

"I'm sorry, Light-kun", L said. "I was completely bemused."

"You know what, Ryuzaki, you should take a shower", Light said, combing his own shower-fresh, shampoo smelling hair. "Hurry up so we can have breakfast after that", he urged.

L didn't make any move. He just stood still and looked at Light.

"Aw, come on now, Ryuzaki", Light coaxed. "You haven't taken a shower for a while."

L didn't want to argue with Light about this meaningless issue but he didn't have time to say anything before Light had already grabbed his shirt and pulled it off. L shivered, feeling cold without a shirt on. But Light had no intention of giving it back to him before he had taken a shower. Light threw the shirt aside and pushed L under the shower. He poured some shampoo in the detective's black hair and started to rub. L kept his eyes closed to avoid the shampoo getting into his eyes. He didn't like this treatment at all and fortunately it didn't last very long.

Light flushed L's hair under the shower. When he was done, he straightened his posture to take a look of L whose wet, black hair covered his wide eyes. Light starting to wipe L's hair aside to see his face properly.

L let his gaze to roam around Light's figure that stood right in front of him. Light smelled strongly like shampoo he had used just a moment ago. He had already gotten dressed and wrapped up the sleeves of his shirt so that they wouldn't get wet when he washed L's hair. Light's own hair was still wet and L saw some water drops slowly falling down on his cheeks and neck.

Light faced L's gaze but he moved a little queasily. "What are you staring at, Ryuzaki?" he asked, slowly taking his hand off L's cheek.

"You", L silently replied, gripping Light's wrist with his hand.

He took one step closer to Light. That one step was enough to bring him so close to Light that the tip of his nose slightly touched Light's. Without a warning he leaned in and pressed a kiss on Light's lips.

Light blinked his eyes, gasping air. He froze to stare at L, brown eyes opened wide, although the kiss was already over. L used a couple of seconds to admire Light's big, brown Bambi-eyes from a short distance and then kissed the brunette again. After a short moment of hesitation Light responded to the kiss. But he seemed to be holding back, being shy, tentative. L decided to encourage him by putting more fervor into the kiss. He put his hands in Light's hair. He pushed him against the bathroom wall, being unable to quit kissing him even for a second to breathe. Light too seemed to get feverish. He wrapped his arms around L's naked torso, embracing him tightly, deepening their kiss.

L smelled Light's scent everywhere around him. He couldn't think of anything but Light only. Light who was so full of life and soft and so warm… All of the sudden he realized that there was nothing he wanted more than Light.

* * *

L slowly opened his eyes and leered around. He felt something moving up and down under his head. He was lying on the bed in the room he shared with Light. And he was using sleeping Light as a pillow. He had curled up against the brunette, resting his head on Light's chest. He looked at Light's face, realizing that he had just been dreaming about him.

"Light-kun…?"

Light's peaceful breathing continued. He didn't wake up. L watched his calm face. He enjoyed watching Light sleeping almost just as much as he enjoyed being with him when he was awake. Light was an interesting person and in L's opinion it was absorbing to watch what he looked like when he was asleep.

L, himself, slept very little. And he never slept long. But now he had fallen asleep next to Light. And he had had this dream… of Light. A very vivid dream of Light… It was something very unusual. L wasn't sure if it was just a good thing that he had only been dreaming. And what was the meaning of a dream like that…?

When L dreamed he usually had very short and absurd dreams. He had those when he was suffering from a bad lack of sleep and had been working with some difficult case. At times like that, he sometimes happened to fall asleep and have short, disjointed dreams. And they usually had something to do with the cases he was currently working with. He often forgot about those dreams pretty quickly since he had a lot to think about and a great rush with investigating. He wondered what kinds of dreams Light usually had. And… did Light ever dream about him… like the way he had just dreamed of Light?

L heard Light mumbling something unclear. The brunette moved restlessly under him. He seemed to be waking up.

L didn't have time to do anything but lift his head off Light's chest before the younger one had opened his brown, drowsy eyes. L was still lying on Light who looked at him, trying to understand the situation. He seemed to come to the conclusion that L was inconveniently close to him.

Because of the handcuffs they had to spend together 24 hours a day. Light needed to get dressed in front of L, he needed to undress in front of him and he also needed to sleep in the same bed with him. He definitely needed more privacy. He needed some personal space. Was it just too much to ask for…?

"Ryuzaki… What are you doing…?" he asked, trying to move away from L. "Could you please stay on your own side of the bed…?"

"Since when have we had our _own_ sides of the bed, Light-kun?" L asked.

"Since _now_", Light snarled. "Get off me…" He started to push L away, without hesitating to use any rough grasps.

The two of them ended up struggling with each other on the bed. Light soon managed to get on top of L but the detective wasn't defeated with just that. He did something that Light hadn't quite expected him to do. He used a quick capoeira kick and managed to hit the target faultlessly accurately, without hesitating to use force. Light shrieked, let go of L and curled up onto the bed, whining and burying his face in the sheets.

There was a silence, filled with Light's quiet whining. L bit the nail of his thumb, looking at Light whose face he couldn't see, not knowing what to do.

He crawled to him, asking timidly: "Light-kun… Are you all right…?"

"Just how does this look like…?" Light grunted, wincing and holding his crotch with his hands.

L turned his gaze away. "I'm sorry, Light-kun…" he muttered apologetically. "Does it hurt badly…?"

Light raised his gaze. L saw small tears in the corners of his eyes.

"You… you hit my…" Light hissed, biting his lip, apparently being unable to continue. Fortunately he didn't have to.

L put his hand on Light's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Light-kun…" he said, trying to reach Light's gaze. "Let me help you. May I take a look at it…?"

Light immediately leaned back and his eyes widened like he had been having really hard time believing what he had just heard. But it took only a few seconds from him to recover. He raised his hand and slapped L in the face.

"Of course _not_, you pervert!" he shouted aggrievedly. "How dare you even ask such a thing? _As if_ I… I won't show you my…" Light just shook his head briskly and fell silent, turning his gaze away from L.

L's cheek had went completely numb because of Light's hard slap. He just stared at the brunette, not knowing what to say. Had they not been handcuffed together, Light would probably have run away from him. L just wanted to hug him and hold him and apologize to him. But Light wouldn't have let him do that.

An eye for an eye. That was one of L's principles. But even though Light had just slapped him, he didn't want to hit him back. It was unusual but he didn't want to. He only wanted to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Light-kun", he said again, crawling closer to Light. "I – "

"Don't come near me!" Light yelled at him. "Just leave me alone, will you!"

"I just wanted to help you, Light-kun. I'm sorry."

"Stop it already!" Light retorted. "You aren't sorry. You just say you are. But you are _not_."

Light crossed his arms and turned his back on L. He was just so fed up with this. He admired L's deep dedication for the Kira case but he just couldn't agree with the investigating methods L used. For example, using Misa was strongly against Light's will. But did L even listen to his opinion? No, he didn't. And then L also blamed him for being Kira, the psychopathic killer that they were after. It felt so unfair. Light had absolutely no memories of being Kira. He wanted to catch Kira as much as L did but it just didn't seem to be enough. Just because Light wasn't willing to use the same methods as L did… And just because L happened to have this crazy obsession of him being Kira… This was all getting more senseless every second. Now L had even come up with the theory that Light had been Kira and transferred his power to another person with an intention of having it back after catching the current Kira. In L's genius mind it all made sense. And Light had to admit that it was a brilliant theory and the most terrible thing about it was that it _really_ made sense – Light just didn't have the memories and so he couldn't imagine himself as Kira.

How could he ever be Kira…? He wanted to _catch_ Kira so badly… After all he had been through… He and his family had been suffering too much because of Kira. And by saying he was Kira L was blaming Light for all that.

_You aren't sorry._ _You just say you are. But you are _not_._

The other thing that made Light mad at L was that L wasn't only making up crazy theories but also lying about everything. Light could never know when he was telling him the truth – if ever. L didn't apologize for real. He thought he was always right so he didn't _need _to apologize. He used questionable methods when he investigated and he took advantage of every person he could. Now he was going to use Misa and Misa agreed with that just because L had made him believe that it would make Light happy. And it definitely didn't. L made plans by himself and even though he asked if the others wanted to go along with them, their opinions didn't really make any difference since L put his plans into action anyway.

And their so called friendship… Well, they weren't equal at all. L probably knew everything and every little detail about Light and his life but Light knew nothing about L. L had been monitoring Light's daily life before they had actually even met in person. L had come to his school and probably searched through all the information he could possibly find about him before that. But Light knew nothing about L. Just the things he had learned during the time they had spent together. And if everything starting from their friendship to L's personality was just based on lies… Then Light had nothing but a fake friend. L was all about pretending.

"Light-kun. Please accept my apology."

L took Light's hand into his own. Light looked at their hands that were connected. Then he slowly raised his gaze at L's face. Their eyes met.

L, for once, sounded amazingly sincere… Light was still mad at him but he felt a little bit of guilt when he saw a red spot on the detective's cheek and it was just the same size as Light's palm.

L hesitated for a moment and touched Light's soft cheek with his hand. He just couldn't help himself. He wanted to touch Light so badly.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Light-kun", he muttered silently. He usually didn't feel sorry for real, even though he often apologized. But this wasn't pretending. What he felt for Light – whatever it was – was real.

Light looked at L with his innocent Bambi-eyes, wondering if the detective really was telling him the truth. All of the sudden a huge need of affection seized his mind. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around L's skinny body and buried his face in the detective's white shirt. He was tired of being angry with him.

L was surprised by Light's sudden act but he gladly took the brunette into his embrace. The younger one was like a little child who needed his parents' comfort, needed someone to hold him and hug him. L couldn't possibly reject him. He stroked Light's silky hair cautiously. Light let out a quiet sigh. It tickled the skin of L's neck.

L pressed his lips in Light's brunette bangs. Light didn't say anything but he couldn't help himself quietly smiling against L's neck. It was incredible how astonishingly lovely it felt to be held by someone for the longest time… He knew nothing about L. He had no idea who that man really was, what his real name was and had he lied about everything but something still drew Light towards him. For some reason he still wanted to be close to him, mean something to him… Actually L's proximity made him realize how lonely he had been before they had become friends. L's company made him feel less lonely. Like… he had gotten something that he had needed to be complete, without really realizing it.

"Well… at least I didn't kick your face this time, Light-kun."

The corners of L's mouth curved up, making a little smile that disappeared almost immediately – as if it had never been there. He kept stroking Light's hair, pressing his cheek against Light's forehead. He felt extremely happy to have Light there with him. It was funny… They were always together because of the handcuffs but yet still L missed Light. They spent 24 a day with each other but L wanted more than just to be close to him. He didn't understand why he felt those strong feelings for Light but… He just wanted to hold him and touch him… He wanted to kiss him again. But the only problem was that would Light let him…?

L decided to try. He gently pushed Light against the bed and came on top of him, leaning in to kiss his lips.

Light didn't fight back. Not a single bit. He closed his eyes and waited for the kiss to come.

But it never came.

Someone knocked on the door of their room. Both L and Light opened their eyes, let go of each other and stumbled off the bed.

"Who is it?" L asked through the door.

"It's me, Matsuda", replied Matsuda's voice behind the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, please, go ahead", L replied, scratching his head absent-mindedly with his hand.

Matsuda opened the door and came in. He stood still and looked at L and Light who were standing as far from each other as they could. L tucked his hands into his pockets and Light crossed his arms over his chest. They were both avoiding each other's gazes.

"What's wrong?" Matsuda asked. "Have you two been fighting again…?"

Neither L nor Light replied.

Matsuda had to draw his own conclusion. "So you have", he said, sighing. "You guys shouldn't. You're always fighting with each other. You're almost like an old married couple."

Light frowned, blushing lightly. He wasn't happy to hear Matsuda's opinion about their relationship. After all, Matsuda knew nothing about it…

"Don't say that, Matsuda-san", L commented. "Light-kun and I, we have absolutely no intention of getting married."

Matsuda tiled his head. He felt a little sorry for Ryuzaki who hadn't really understood that he had only been joking. He chuckled a little, saying: "It was just a metaphor, Ryuzaki."

L didn't reply.

"What did you come here for anyway, Matsuda?" Light asked, wanting to change the subject of the conversation. He really hoped that Matsuda couldn't tell by looking at his face that he had just been in intimate intercourse with L.

Fortunately Matsuda couldn't. "I came here to tell you that everyone else is expecting you two to come to the monitoring room", he explained. "They want to hear more details about that plan of yours, Ryuzaki."

"I see", L replied. "We will be there in a minute."

Matsuda nodded and left back to the others.

When he had gone Light sat down onto the bed and sighed loudly. He didn't quite understand what had happened just a moment ago between him and L. He had almost fallen for L's trap again…

"Does it still hurt somewhere, Light-kun?" L asked, slouching to him.

"No, I'm just fine…"

"Are you sure about that?" L asked. "I mean… a kick like that could have caused some serious damage to your…"

Light looked at L with an insecure face. He didn't want to admit it but he couldn't help himself worrying a little for the sake of his manliness.

"No, just give it up already", he said anyway. "I'm fine."

"If you say so, Light-kun", L replied, shrugging. "Let's go to the others then, shall we?"

* * *

**And I'm back! ;D**

**First of all I want to apologize once again for not updating so soon... But I have a good explanation. I've been really busy, honestly, so busy that it had almost driven me crazy... When I wrote the last chapter (Chapter 16), I thought I would have enough time to write the following chapters pretty quickly but I was wrong... It has all just gotten worse... I have so many things to do and I would just like to write... And I've been suffering from a bad lack of sleep lately... Next week is going to be full of exams and I've had a lot of homework to do... I feel like I've been working like crazy but I've still got plenty of things to do... Fortunately this oncoming exam week is going to be the last of this year. Once it's over I think I'll be able to write more and do other things I like as well. (: And how glad I am now because I slept 11 hours last night! ;D Today I've got nowhere to go so I can spend my day with studying and eating... ;D**

**And... then something about this chapter. So... this chapter... Not much to say about it... ;D Only that I struggled a long time with it and rewrote it several times because I simply wasn't happy with the stuff I wrote. Now I need to publish it quickly before I change my mind about it again... ;D It's completely up to you to decide whether you like it or not. And by the way, that short part in the beginning of this chapter is just L's dream. Just so you know... if it wasn't said clearly enough later in this chapter...  
**

**And last I want to tell you about something that I found extremely hilarious. xD Perhaps you happen to know a guy named Brad Swaile. He, as you might know, has made Light Yagami's voice in the English dub of the Death Note animated series. I've watched some videos about him on Youtube and in those videos he speeks Light's lines. And in that line where he says "I'll take a potato chip and eat it!" he makes some sort of strange sparkling effects with his hands... xD It looks odd and I wondered why on earth he made those... Then I watched that anime clip again and realized why that potato chip eating part actually looks so epic. Okay, there's that epic music and all... But Light's spit actually _sparkles_ in that scene... xDD Umm... Does Light Yagami have glitter in his spit...? Or what...?  
I can't even watch Black Lagoon in English anymore because Rock has Light Yagami's English voice in it. And when Rock says "Damn it!" it reminds me too much of Light... xD Because Light keeps saying it in the English dub of Death Note... Fortunately I personally prefer the original Japanese versions of almost every anime that I watch. ;D  
**

**But whatever... I hope you want to continue reading this fic in the future regardless of my stupid comments... ^^'  
**

**Yours sincerely  
~ CherrySugarCube**


	18. Chapter 18

In the beginning of their friendship Light had felt superiority because of L's ignorance about human relationships. But now things had changed. Light was now the ignorant and insecure one and L was the one who clearly seemed to know what he wanted. Light wished he had known what L wanted from him. And he was afraid of the feelings of insecurity he very often felt nowadays when he was with L.

Light was a popular guy and there were countless girls who would have wanted to date him. But he wasn't interested in any of them. None of them was good enough for him. He wanted someone worth him. That was the reason why he didn't even consider anyone his true friend anymore. Except Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki was enough to satisfy Light's huge need to have a friend worth him. Have someone as intelligent as he was but yet still someone different from the people Light had used to… Ryuzaki was so different from the other people and that was just the thing that made him so special. Light could never know what Ryuzaki would next come up with. It was exciting – and sometimes very frustrating – to be with him. But at least he never got bored.

However, he was worried about their relationship. He wanted to be friends with Ryuzaki, L, or whoever he was. But he was scared of those emotions that sometimes made him want to touch L unnecessarily often… It was frightening how he sometimes happened to think that it didn't only feel good to hear compliments from L but also be touched and held by him… And how he even felt some sort of affection towards him, though Ryuzaki was… well, not repulsive but… completely different from what people usually considered lovely and charming.

Light thought that L knew exactly what he wanted from him but the truth was that even the world's best detective didn't know that. He couldn't tell what he felt for Light, what he wanted from him or why it felt so good to be with him. He didn't only enjoy the conversations with him but also watching him and his movements, seeing him smiling and being touched by him – even for just a short moment. Only saying Light's name felt good. He had hardly known any person during his life as well as he knew Light. And never before had he felt such strong, affectionate and warm feelings for anyone, except Light. L hadn't ever given much thought for it but it was obvious that they couldn't be together although Light seemed to feel something strong for him, too. He was clearly trying hard to hide it from L and everyone else, though. And it was no wonder – since Soichiro Yagami wouldn't have approved of a romantic relationship between his son and the world's greatest detective. Even the thought of it was impossible.

* * *

Light and L joined the others in the monitoring room. Light tried not to look at L too much. He was afraid of blushing or acting weird some other way if he did that. But L, on the other hand, was acting just normally – meaning what was normal _for him_ – regardless of the intimate situation the two of them had been in only a moment ago.

"Ryuzaki, Light, please sit down", Soichiro Yagami said to them as they arrived.

Light and L sat down onto a couch as the others sat down, too. L reached for a chocolate cordial box in front of him on the table. When he had gotten some of the cordials in his hands, he leaned back and started to remove the wrapping from them.

"So, Ryuzaki, could you now tell us about that plan of yours?" Soichiro Yagami asked.

L put the chocolate into his mouth and looked closely at the rest of them as if he had been wondering which one of them to eat next.

"The plan is", he said, "to use Misa Amane and her skills as our advantage."

Soichiro Yagami, Mogi and Matsuda exchanged glances with each other. They seemed to be doubtful about this.

"What do you mean, Ryuzaki?" Soichiro Yagami asked, turning to look at Light. "Does… Light agree with this plan of yours?"

Light crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't want to use Misa like that", he said. "But Ryuzaki says it's a good idea and we don't have much time… I can't come with any better plan. And now that I think about it, I realize it is a good plan… It might really work. Though, it's risky."

"What about Amane?" Soichiro Yagami asked. "Is she willing to help us?"

"Yes, she is", L replied, eating yet another chocolate. "She would do anything to help Light-kun."

Soichiro Yagami was still looking at his son who frowned.

"So what is the plan anyway?" Matsuda asked, interrupting the short moment of silence.

"The plan is to get Misa Amane as close as the Yotsuba employers as possible", L explained. "That is the only plan I can now come up with. Since the Yotsuba employers already know her, it will be easy for her to get hired for Yotsuba's commercial. And… to make them become interested in Amane, Eraldo Coil needs to reveal to them that Misa Amane was once arrested by L on the suspicion of being the second Kira and later set free. The Yotsuba employers want to hire her because they would think Misa Amane might know L's identity. So my plan is to tell them this as Eraldo Coil and then send Amane to them for a job interview. They will definitely ask her about the arrest and L."

"But… that will put Amane in great danger", Soichiro Yagami pointed out. "Is she really aware of what she is going to have to do?"

L ate another chocolate. "Yes, I explained the plan to her very clearly", the detective replied. "She is willing to go along with it." L had known that the others – or at least Soichiro Yagami – would be against his plan just as Light had been. But he had decided to put this plan into action at the very moment Amane had agreed to help.

Soichiro Yagami sighed. "This is very risky… But I think we really don't have another choice…" he said. "And if Amane wants to go along with this… and if Light wants to go along with this… Then I guess there isn't much I could do to stop you."

"I'm glad to hear that you understand the situation we are in, Yagami-san", L said, nodding to Yagami soberly. "Then the next think I'm going to do is to contact the Yotsuba employers as Eraldo Coil."

Soichiro Yagami stood up and started to walk around the room, seeming to be restless. Matsuda went to the monitors and started watching the monitor that was showing Misa's room. Mogi remained silent, as usual.

L kept eating chocolates, occasionally glancing at Light who was sitting next to him and seemed to be sulking. L was just about to put yet another chocolate cordial into his mouth but he started to hesitate and offered it to Light instead.

"Are you feeling all right, Light-kun?" he asked.

Light looked at the chocolate L was offering to him. "Yes, I am", he replied. "I'm just worried about Misa… She has no idea about the dangers of this plan."

L didn't reply. It wouldn't have surprised him if Misa Amane hadn't actually realized the dangers of this plan. But perhaps it was just a good thing. It was easy to use her when she was so determined.

"She knows it's dangerous", the detective said to Light. "And that only makes her more willing to do it. She wants to risk her life for you, Light-kun."

L was still offering the chocolate to Light. Light had finally gotten enough courage to look at L's face and he was disappointed to see one of those expressions he couldn't construe on L's pale face. However, he didn't accept the chocolate.

"I don't want her to do that for me", he said. "Of course I want to catch Kira but… I don't want to get others in danger. Ryuzaki, is this _really_ the only plan you can come up with? You know Misa would do crazy things for me and what you're doing now… You're just _using _her. You're using the fact that she'd do anything for me as your advantage. You're using her for your own purposes. And not only her – but _me_, too. You're using _me_ to use Misa."

L was looking at the cordial he had offered to Light but that Light hadn't accepted. When he heard Light's words, he raised his gaze up at the brunette's face.

"I see… " he muttered. "So_ that_ is the thing actually bothering you… You feel that _you_ have been used… by me… Is that it?"

"I…"

Light didn't know how to reply. That was exactly the thing that had been bothering him. L couldn't capture Kira without his help – or at least by using Misa because Misa wouldn't necessarily have agreed to help L if Light hadn't been on L's side. It was _Light _she wanted to help, not L. And L knew that and used it as his advantage.

"I just don't want you to fool Misa to do anything by saying that it would make me happy", Light said to L. "Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

L nodded, eating the chocolate he had been holding in his hand, looking a little resentful.

"But I will be carrying out this plan", he said to Light, standing up and putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "As said before, we're running out of time. Or does Light-kun come up with any better plan than is?"

"No, I already told you I can't come up with anything", Light replied, standing up, too. "I think this is a good opportunity to get closer to Kira even though it's dangerous. And I don't have another choice." He lifted his left wrist up a little to show the metal chain of the handcuffs. "We'll be working like this until Kira is caught."

"That is right", L said, turning his back on Light. "If we are done talking, I would like to put my plan into action now. Starting with a phone call as Eraldo Coil…"

* * *

So L made the call. The Yotsuba employers got extremely interested in Misa after L told them that she had been arrested on the suspicion of being the second Kira. And that the arrest had been done by L. They said to L (whom they thought to be Eraldo Coil) that they could use his help with interviewing Misa Amane. L was really glad about that. He later told the members of the Kira investigating team that he would have a great advantage of getting to help the Yotsuba employers with interviewing Misa Amane. He could decide about the questions by telling them that it would be wise to ask certain things. And so even an impulsive girl like Misa, who lacked badly of intelligence, wouldn't reveal anything L didn't want her to. And the best part was that the Yotsuba employers thought they would find out something important, having Eraldo Coil helping them.

"Now we just need to start practicing for the interview with Misa-san", L said after talking with the members of the investigating team. "Light-kun, you are coming with me."

L took Light to Misa's room. The detective entered her room without knocking or asking for permission. Light hesitated and tried to explain to L that it was an extremely rude way of behaving but L didn't seem to listen to him.

"Who's there?" they heard Misa's voice coming from the bathroom. "Is it you, Light?"

Misa had very hopeful tone in her voice. Light and L didn't have to let her down.

"Yes, it's us, Light-kun and I", L replied. "Please hurry up and come here."

"Don't go anywhere, Light! I'll be there in no time!"

And after a couple of second she was standing there in front of them, hair done carefully and a pretty make-up on.

"Are we having a date today?" she asked cheerfully. "It's been long since we last had a date. I've missed you, Light." She smiled at Light and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"And it's good to see you too, Ryuzaki", she said to L who was standing right next to Light.

L didn't respond. He took a chocolate cordial out of his pocket and started to remove the wrapping from it.

"Whatever…" Misa murmured under her breath, glaring at L. "Light, what shall we do today?" she then asked, smiling at the brunette.

"This isn't a date, Misa", Light said to her. "We came here to tell you that you've just been invited to a job interview. Maybe you'll perform in Yotsuba's commercial."

Misa's smile widened. "I'll do my best to get that job!" she said.

"This isn't only about getting the job, Misa-san", L said monotonously. "Can you recall the plan I explained to you?"

"Sure", Misa replied. "I need to tell them something about Kira and that I was arrested by L…"

L nodded. "And Light-kun and I came here so that we could practice your interview in advance", he said.

Their conversation was soon interrupted when someone knocked on the door. Misa asked the knocker to come in.

It was Matsuda.

"What is it, Matsuda-san?" L asked.

"I… um…" Matsuda began, hesitating. "I just wanted to come here to watch your practicing."

Light and L exchanged a glance with each other. Matsuda would only disturb their practicing…

"Don't you have anything else to do, Matsuda-san?" L asked.

Matsuda sighed. "Frankly… I don't. I'm just bored… Chief and Mogi are being so awfully quiet and tense that I don't want to bother them being in the monitoring room…" he muttered.

_So you decided to come here to bother us instead… _L thought bitterly. _Matsuda, you are so useless…_

"Well…" he said out loud, eating his last chocolate cordial. "Now that you are here, Matsuda-san and you have nothing else to do… you could bring me a box of these chocolates and a cup of coffee with extra sugar wouldn't hurt…"

Matsuda's expression changed. He seemed to be astonished. And he was probably wondering if L was being serious about this. He wasn't any kind of servant of his…

L turned to Light and Misa. "Is there something you would like to have?" he asked.

Light shook his head. "No thank you."

"Me neither", Misa said.

L nodded. "Very well", he said, turning back to Matsuda. "The chocolates and a cup of coffee it is then."

"But… isn't that just something that Watari does…?" Matsuda asked L.

"Yes, he usually does", L replied. "But why bother him when you don't have anything else to do, Matsuda-san? Watari is already working to get someone to play Eraldo Coil in Misa-san's interview. Or would you like to play that role, Matsuda-san?"

"N-no thank you…" Matsuda muttered quickly. "I'll just get the chocolates and the coffee…"

He slouched away, seeming to be less excited than he had been when he first came into Misa's room.

* * *

**Hello there again! (: It's good to be back - at last. **

**First of all I'd like to apologize for that it took so long to update this story... I really thought I'd be able to update sooner when I published the last chapter (chapter 17) but I was wrong... I've been extremely busy and that's why I haven't been able to update sooner... Please do not shoot me for that... ^^' ****Hopefully all of you will continue reading this story in the future even though I'm so slow with updating...  
**

**Second... This isn't a good chapter but I needed to publish something so that the story would continue. I've been writing stuff for the chapters that I'll publish in the future and some of that stuff might be in the next chapter already. (: And I really hope I'd be able to update sooner next time.**

**Looking forward to it. (: Hope you enjoyed this short chappie even a little bit... ^^'  
**

**Yours faithfully  
~ CherrySugarCube**

**P.S. Thanks for the reviews - they're just awesome and make me want to keep writing. (:  
**


	19. Chapter 19

L and Light practiced for the interview with Misa for a couple of days. And when the date of the interview came, Misa left for the Yotsuba office with Mogi who was playing her manager now that Matsuda was believed to be dead.

Matsuda was walking around the monitoring room, worrying about Misa and her performance in the interview. Soichiro Yagami tried to focus on working on a computer but Matsuda's restless behavior disturbed him.

Meanwhile L and Light had gone into their room to play chess. Light, too, was worried about Misa but L didn't show any emotions at all – just as usual. The two of them were sitting on a couch, having a chess board in between them. Light looked very absentminded and he couldn't really focus on the game. L, on the other hand, seemed to be very interested in the game. But he kept glancing at Light occasionally. Light didn't pay attention to L's glances.

The brunette leaned his back against the back of the couch. L had made his move and it was Light's turn now. Light seemed to be looking at the chess board but he didn't actually see it. He was wondering if something had already gone wrong with Misa's interview.

"Light-kun", L stated.

Light startled a little. He raised his gaze up at L.

"It is your turn", L said to him.

Light massaged his temples with his hands. "Oh… right…" he muttered. "But I really can't focus on this game right now…"

"You are worried about Misa-san", L said. "Aren't you, Light-kun?"

"What if something goes wrong?" Light asked. "Misa is just so…" He sighed, deciding to leave it up to L to ponder what he had been about to say about Misa. "Ah… Just… never mind… I'm not in the playing mood right now", he said instead. "Let's quit, Ryuzaki."

L shrugged, lifting the chess board aside. He sat back down next to Light, placing his knees against his chest. That was the characteristic sitting position of his. He glanced at Light again from the corner of his eye. The brunette's beautiful features were shadowed by worries. L wanted to make Light not to worry so much. He wanted to pat Light's shoulder, tell him that everything was just fine and there was no need to worry in advance. Only if something bad really happened, then they should start worrying.

L had been missing the beautiful, bright smile of Light's… Recently Light had been so tense and up-tight… And L wanted to make Light smile at him. But he didn't quite know how to do it. He saw Light's hand on the couch in between the two of them and placed his own surreptitiously on it.

Light felt L's hand on his own but he tried to ignore it completely. However, ignoring L soon became impossible since the detective slowly inched closer to him on the couch. So close, that L was soon sitting right next to him and there was simply no empty space left in between the two of them.

At that point Light stood up and took a few steps away from the couch. He couldn't go far because of the handcuffs but he was too restless to sit still. L stared at Light's back, really wanting to pull the younger one back to the couch with him.

"Going somewhere, Light-kun…?" he asked lazily.

"I… I'm not feeling too good about this, Ryuzaki", Light replied, still having his back turned on L. "I mean… about Misa being in the Yotsuba office and all…"

L didn't know what to say. He could have just said that everything was fine but Light wouldn't have believed him… He stood up, too, walking to Light from behind and placing his hands on the brunette's shoulders, starting to massage them carefully.

Light startled and turned around to face L's gaze.

"What are you doing, Ryuzaki…?" he asked abashedly.

"I'm giving Light-kun a massage", L replied simply, making Light turn back around so that he could continue massaging him. "I figured it might make you feel better…" he explained.

"Ryuzaki, you really don't need to do such a thing…" Light muttered. "I'm just fine…"

"But it'll be my _pleasure_ to do so", L said persistently. "I insist, Light-kun."

Light turned to look at L over his shoulder and seeing L's strict face really made him believe that L meant his words.

"Fine…" he muttered, turning his gaze away. "I guess it can't hurt…"

"It won't hurt", L convinced. "I'll be gentle."

Light stared forward without really seeing a thing. At first it was hard to relax when L massaged his shoulders but Light soon noticed that he didn't feel so tense anymore. And now that he was being massaged, he gradually started to feel a little drowsy. His thoughts began to drift somewhere far.

"Where have you learned to massage so well, Ryuzaki?" he asked without really realizing that he was saying it out loud.

"Oh, Light-kun likes this – am I correct to assume that? L replied with a question.

"I… um… Oh, yeah, I guess so…" Light muttered.

"I'm glad", L said softly, leaning his face against the back of Light's head. He breathed in the sweet scent of Light's hair. He wrapped his arms around Light's shoulders and hugged him from behind.

Light blinked his eyes. "What's the matter, Ryuzaki?" he asked. "Why… why did you stop…?"

L kept a short pause before replying. "Does Light-kun want me to continue…?" he spoke against Light's hair.

Light hesitated. "No… You don't need to…" he muttered. "This is good… This… feels… good just like this…"

L didn't say anything but he agreed. He greatly enjoyed having these kinds of moments with Light. They didn't always have to talk. It felt good just to be together with Light, just to be close to him.

L petted Light's cheek carefully with his fingertips. He breathed in the scent of Light's hair, pressing his lips lightly against the skin of Light's neck.

Light got chills. For some reason his hands suddenly started sweating He gulped silently.

L petted Light's cheek with his hand and gave a couple kisses on the skin area below Light's ear. He slid his other hand down on Light's chest and slowly started to unbutton Light's shirt with it. He turned the younger one around and gripped his shirt with his both hands, pressing his lips against Light's, kissing him torridly.

Soon after he had unbuttoned Light's shirt completely. The shirt fell off Light's shoulders and slumped down on the floor. L kicked it aside and pushed Light against the nearest wall, tucking his tongue into the brunette's mouth.

Somehow knotting cherry stems suddenly popped into Light's mind. He had seen L doing that and thought that it probably asked for some real skills to knot something with one's tongue. And now he couldn't help himself thinking that knotting cherry stems had something to do with the fact that L was a stunning good kisser. Light felt his legs giving up under his body weight and he completely lost his balance. He slid down to the floor. L came down with him, still kissing him. Light's head was spinning and his heart was beating fast. He would have just collapsed on the floor if L hadn't been there, pushing him against the wall.

* * *

"Chief."

"Matsuda, I'm no longer a chief", Soichiro Yagami reminded Matsuda.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Chief", Matsuda said apologetically. "It's just that I've gotten used to calling you Chief…"

Soichiro Yagami sighed quietly. "It doesn't matter, Matsuda", he said. "Anyway, what did you want to say to me?"

"Um…" Matsuda began, hesitating a little. "It's just that… that… Well… Have you noticed – and _of course_ you _must_ have noticed – that Ryuzaki and Light are always being together… and very often just the two of them…?"

"Yes, I do have noticed that", Soichiro Yagami said soberly. "And what about it?"

Matsuda felt awkward. "Well… How could I put it…." he muttered. "Aren't you worried about it, Chief…?"

"Why would I be?" Soichiro Yagami asked, lifting his eyebrows.

Matsuda scratched the back of his head, feeling uneasy. "Well of course you don't _need_ to be worried about it… It's only _good_ that you trust Ryuzaki…"

Soichiro Yagami's expression was extremely strict. "Matsuda, just tell me what this is all about", he said. "What do you mean by that? Why would I be worried?"

Matsuda hoped that he hadn't ever opened his mouth and talked to Soichiro Yagami about this matter. Of course he deeply admired Yagami and wanted to be loyal to him but he should have known that Yagami wouldn't understand his concern. But it was too late to regret. He had to try to explain it to him.

"Well…" he began. "Sure I trust Ryuzaki, too… Just like you do, Chief. And of course he is very smart and sharp-witted and everything… But he is… a bit… odd… And he _suspects_ your son, Chief. Your _own son_."

"I know that, Matsuda", Soichiro Yagami said.

"But doesn't it bother you?" Matsuda asked.

"Of course it does", Soichiro Yagami said. "But Ryuzaki has his reasons to suspect Light. I personally don't believe that my son could be Kira. I know him, I know my son. But I respect Ryuzaki and you should respect him, too, Matsuda – even though he doesn't always earn that respect with his behavior."

"But…" Matsuda said quietly. "Don't you think this whole situation is just too weird…? I mean… Light handcuffed to Ryuzaki… who suspects him to be Kira…"

"This is what Light _wants_, Matsuda", Soichiro Yagami said. "He _wants_ to go after Kira with Ryuzaki and I respect his decisions even though I'm sometimes very strongly against them. Light is a clever boy. He knows what he does."

_I sure hope so… _Matsuda thought. "But, Chief…" he said again. "Aren't you worried about what kind of influence Ryuzaki might have on your son…? Because they're always being together with each other and Ryuzaki… Well… you know him… He is just odd… drastic and everything… He uses very strange methods with his investigations – like Misa-Misa for example… And Aizawa left because of what he did… I mean… it's easy _for him_ to investigate with a fake name, hiding behind all these security systems. He has nothing to lose… But Aizawa had…"

"Aizawa left because he thought that was for the best", Soichiro Yagami said. "And I respect his decisions, as well. You are right, Matsuda. He has a family and that's why he left; to take care of his family. And what comes to Light and Ryuzaki always being together… I'm not worried about it, not at all. It appears that they've become very good friends in such a short time. Ryuzaki has put Light through a lot. But I'm glad that Light has found a friend who shares common interests and qualities with him. They make a good team."

Matsuda sighed and smiled a little insecurely. "Well… I guess you're right, Chief", he said. "Light has helped us and Ryuzaki a lot with this case. You must be very proud of your son."

"I am", Soichiro Yagami replied, smiling and thinking of Light with warmth. "No man could wish to have a better son than I have."

Matsuda, too, smiled but then he got serious again. "Chief…" he said. "I need to ask you not to tell Ryuzaki that I called him odd and everything… Please, don't tell him I did. I don't want to… insult anyone… And Ryuzaki… well… I have a feeling that he already dislikes me… And I wouldn't want to give him any reason to… dislike me even more…"

Soichiro Yagami's smile didn't fade when he looked at Matsuda. Yagami even uttered laughter. "Don't worry about it, Matsuda", he said warmly. "I know you two haven't gotten along so well with each other. I won't tell Ryuzaki what you said."

Matsuda sighed in relief. "Thank you, Chief."

* * *

Light's rosy cheeks were glowing bright red as he was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and L in between his legs, kissing him. When L finally pulled back from the stunningly torrid kiss, Light was panting fast.

L cuddled him, pressing his lips on Light's neck again. Light's scent was like a drug to him. He just couldn't get enough of it. It made him feel so dizzy that he couldn't think of anything else but Light only. He rubbed his body against Light's and gave kisses on his neck and fondled the younger one's hair affectionately. Light hid his face in L's shirt and tried to stifle his moaning against it.

"Ryuzaki…" he panted into L's ear.

L took his lips away from Light's neck. "What… is the matter… Light-kun…?" L breathed against Light's lips.

Light stared L in the eyes. "I…" he panted. "We… We can't do this…"

L leaned back and wiped his mouth with his hand. He looked at Light and silently agreed with him – even though he would have wanted to continue making out with him. But the fact was that they really couldn't go any further. This timing was very inappropriate for that.

"I'm sorry, Light-kun…" he said. "I really didn't mean to…"

They kept looking at each other, not really knowing what to say. What had just happened… wasn't supposed to happen. Light gulped, trying to hide his blushing face. He couldn't believe that he had _let_ this happen – _again_. And at a time like this…

"Light-kun… I never wanted to…" L said, not knowing how to finish his sentence. There were so many things he never intended to happen. But he needed to say something because Light was being awfully quiet… What if L had gone too far this time…? He was afraid of losing Light's friendship.

"Please… Let's just forget about all this…" Light said, still avoiding L's gaze. "This was a mistake… I apologize…"

L opened his mouth to say something. But he closed it soon after without saying a thing. He could come up with several reasons for that why it was so wrong for them to do stuff like this. At first: they were in the middle of Kira investigation and they hadn't time to even think of anything else. Second: none of the others – especially Soichiro Yagami – would have approved of that what they were doing. And those were just the two main reasons. There were plenty more.

L looked at Light, really wanting to hold him, just to hug him or something like that. Not necessarily to make out with him again… But just… hold him. But Light pushed him away and stood up, fetching his shirt, putting it back on and buttoning it back up. Then he froze to stand there on the floor, having his back turned on L who was still sitting on the floor.

L stared at Light's back, thinking that it was tough being with him. L just simply liked him too much. They were together all the time but yet still… L couldn't get enough of him. L didn't understand why everything had to be so_ difficult _in human relationships. Why couldn't he and Light just be together and do things they wanted, without anyone interfering…?

"Ryuzaki…" Light said quietly, interrupting the deep silence. The tone of his voice sounded very serious. "Just… tell me something…" he said. "_What _exactlyis that what you want from me…?"

L was still sitting on the floor in the characteristic position of his. He hesitated a long time before replying to Light's question. Finally he asked: "Why do you mean by that, Light-kun…?"

Light bit his lip and took a deep breath. Ryuzaki was obviously playing stupid again… "You know what I mean", Light said to him, turning to look at the detective. "We're friends – or that's what you keep saying to me. But… you still think I'm Kira. It's just stupid… since… I'm not your enemy, Ryuzaki. I'm on your side! So what do you want from me? Just tell me… Why are you doing this to me…? You've been acting so strangely… Is this all just because you think I'm Kira…? Are you trying to confuse me or something? If so, you succeeded… Are you happy now?"

L stared at Light and studied the upset look in the brunette's eyes. He stood up so that their eyes would be closer to the same level.

"I'm not happy", he replied silently. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry…?" Light echoed. There was a skeptical tone in his voice. "For what?"

"For upsetting you", L replied. "I…" He hesitated a little. "I'm _not_ acting the way I do to prove that you are Kira. I'm acting like this because I feel… a certain way about you, Light-kun. This thing isn't about you being Kira."

"A certain way…?" Light echoed. "What do you mean? And how could I ever be sure of that this isn't about me being Kira? When it comes to you, _everything_ is about me being Kira." He kept a short pause. "Actually…" he then continued. There was a cold look in his eyes. "Isn't this just too weird in your opinion…? What happened a moment ago… I mean… You believe that I'm Kira and yet still you… act like _that_… I don't get it… Just _what_ is that what you want from me…? Or from _Kira _more likely…?"

L walked to Light, having a strict expression on his pale face. "More than _anything_… I want to catch Kira", he said, staring Light in the eyes. "And that is the reason for you being here, handcuffed to me. But from Kira… I want nothing."

The two of them were staring each other in the eyes as if they had wanted to paralyze each other with their gazes.

"I know you might not believe a word of what I'm saying to you, Light-kun", L said without breaking the eye contact. "Yes, we are handcuffed together because I wanted to keep an eye on you because you might be Kira. It's very likely that you _are_ and you do know that, Light-kun. But… after releasing you from the confinement you have been different… Almost like a completely different person… And recently… I have been able to think of you without seeing Kira in you all the time. And what I want from _you_… is that… I want to get to know you. I want to know the real Yagami Light. You. I want to know who you are."

Light's gaze softened a little. He blinked his eyes, being a little confused. What a complicated relationship they had, he and L… L believed that he was Kira and he, himself, just couldn't buy it. Of course he knew himself better than anyone. But L's theory was clever and Light couldn't really blame him for accusing him. But now… if L had started to think of Light without seeing Kira in him, their friendship could grow deeper. Before this Light had had to be careful with the things he did and said since everything he had done and said might have been something that Kira would have done. And although Light had admired L all this time, he hadn't really been able to trust him fully. He still couldn't… But at least they could now develop a new and better sense of trust between each other. Now that Kira didn't come in between them all the time…

"Ryuzaki…" Light said silently. "I hope that… you can forgive me… And… I also hope that… what happened a moment ago between us… doesn't change anything…"

"What do you mean, Light-kun?" L asked.

"I mean… We're still friends, right…?"

"Yes, of course we are."

Light sighed, being relieved. But he still needed to be sure of one thing.

"And…" he began, moving a little queasily. "I wish that we could just forget about all that happened just a moment ago…"

L looked at Light, really wanting to see him smiling instead of showing that worried and insecure face. L would have said yes to Light if it only had been enough to make him smile at him. But how could L have ever been able to forget about what had happened between the two of them…? He didn't even want to. And he didn't believe that Light would have been able just forget about everything either. But perhaps things would have been better now if it hadn't happened at all… L felt bad for all that had happened but he couldn't erase it. He touched Light's arm carefully with his hand.

"Ryuzaki?"

L looked away. He couldn't deny his feelings – whatever they were. Something made him want to be close to Light… Light had become so important to him in such a short period of time. He didn't know if Light felt quite the same way about him but at least Light must had felt something for him, too… For example as far as L could recall it had been_ Light_ who had kissed him when they had kissed for the very first time.

But one thing was clear: no-one but Light only had ever made L feel this way.

"Ryuzaki, answer me", Light demanded, interrupting L's thoughts. Light gripped L's shoulders and shook him a little to draw the detective's attention to him. "The kiss… and all that happened… It… didn't mean anything to you, right…? Ryuzaki…?" he asked timidly.

L put his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "No, it didn't mean anything", he replied monotonously.

Light smiled a little, just a little. And he patted L's shoulder casually.

L was happy to see him smiling but he couldn't respond to the smile. This was all so sarcastic, ironic and bittersweet that it brought a bitter taste in L's mouth. They, Light and he, two geniuses, tried to fool themselves and each other into believing that their little make out session hadn't meant anything to either of them. But since they weren't allowed to have that kind of relationship, it was better that they both just tried to act like nothing had happened. Nothing at all.

* * *

**Hi there again ~ ! (:  
**

**It's good to be back and I really hope you liked this chapter although it's pretty weird... I hope I don't repeat myself in this story too much... Because I've got a feeling that I do repeat myself a little... And I think it sometimes is a bad thing to keep repeating oneself... Story isn't good if it just keeps repeating itself and doesn't surprise anyone... **

**Anyway... it looks like L and Light have now come to a whole new level with their relationship. The original plan of mine was just to keep them as friends and just create the fun for this story with some little suggestive elements... But it appears that I couldn't help myself creating a real deeper relationship between the two of them... And I don't know whether the readers of this story are happy with that or not but this is how it has gone... So if you have any suggestions or ideas or questions or whatsoever... Then please tell me and perhaps I might use some of them in this story if they fit my plans (and there's a possibility that I might change my plans if that's needed... ;D ). **

**And once again it took me more time than expected to update this story and I'm really sorry for that. It wasn't my rush this time but just that I wasn't happy with the things I wrote and so I rewrote this chapter numerous times again... And I really hope you liked it. **

**Until the next update (Yay, it's the 20th! *party party*) ~ ! (:**

**Yours sincerely  
~ CherrySugarCube**


End file.
